living the dream

Christmas Card 2009

2009-12-17T15:22:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas to all our Friends and Family... we hope the season finds you happy and well!

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Madi's 1st Birthday, Halloween '09

2009-11-02T22:16:00.000-08:00

On Saturday, my sweet little Halloween baby turned one! I can't even begin to tell you how fast that year seemed to fly by- Madison is quickly becoming a little girl in what seemed like the blink of an eye. Her silly personality is shining through more and more everyday- and her sweetness continues to grow. She gives the biggest kisses, loves to tickle anyone for a laugh, and playtime is so fun at this age- she'll squeal at the chance to play "chase" or peek-a-boo. I could go on for hours about the joys she brings to our family and about how adored she is by each of us- but I will save that for future posts. For now, I will write about reaching that wonderful 1st Birthday milestone. Since it is such a special birthday, and Halloween fell on the Saturday right before Kylee's Birthday this year- we decided to throw a big kids party again (even though we vowed to stop the insanity and start making birthdays a little more low key for the kids...) But we figured Madi deserved a great 1st Birthday bash- and we made it a sisters party since these girls and their birthdays are so close- so my planner Kylee and I got to work. Here are a few pictures from our super fun/ jam packed October 31, 2009.

The Halloween Cupcakes before the kids got to decorate them with tons of candy!

Candy Cupcake maddness

Madi and her "why are all these people singing to me?" face.

Kylee and her flaming torch cupcake (that's what 6 whole candles close together looks like!)

Some of the 15 kids line up for our Pumpkin Hunt

Kylee gets ready to pin the broomstick on the witch

Grandma Linda, Great Grandma Joy, and Madison sport their awesome costumes.

Presents!
The party was a ton of fun. Our kids sure do have some great friends, and their parents are super cool and stuck around and hung out and visited with us as well. We were lucky to have all the Scribner cousins come; and Aunties, Uncle, Grandma and Grandpa and Great Grandma all came dressed in costume! It was awesome! After all the friends headed out to get ready for other fun Halloween activities in town, we hung out with family until it was dark enough to walk to Main Street. We had such a fun time Trick or Treating with the cousins. The kids did the loop through all the shops, then wanted to hit all the houses- they have never been so excited about it before. They never complained about how far we walked, and never even minded lugging their big, heavy, overflowing buckets of goodies. (Which they brought home, dumped out, and packaged up the majority of to be sent overseas for the soldiers to enjoy!) I loved every second of the whole night! Here are our Halloween night photos:
Ladybug cousins

Big cousins: Shawn, Brynn, Kylee, Owen

Group Shot

My favorite pic of Owen and Brynn- just giggling to each other like normal- Brynn doesn't seem to even notice Owen's big scary mask :)

Walking

Our 1st stop

Birthday Girls

An October Post...

2009-11-02T20:46:00.000-08:00

October came and went, and we are well on our way to the holiday season. I seriously can't believe that! This fall has been wonderful- waking up on cool mornings to the smell of the wood stoves burning all around town, watching little ones play soccer on warm afternoons, the beautiful colors everywhere... ahhh. Definitely my favorite season. One new fall festivity we enjoyed recently was our favorite winery's 2nd Annual Crush. I always love walking up to an event where there is a big bounce house + live music + wine- you know all members of the family are in store for a fun day. The kids went on the free hay ride, picked out pumpkins, bounced their little hearts out- while the grownups enjoyed wine, good food and music, and even got 3rd place (and a 1/2 case of wine!) in a grape crush relay competition! I LOVE One Maple Winery! We can't wait for next year!

Go Scribner Construction- Team #4!

Wes and Sis-in-Law Melissa pick grapes super fast!

Sis-in-Laws Bridget and I are the stompers!

After taking 3rd, our team is ready to come back next year for the title!

The kids take a hay ride

My kids enjoying this wonderful family day

On this weekend, we were lucky to have my parents for a visit to join in on the fun. We celebrated Madison and Kylee's birthdays a week early with the grandparents. Here is my favorite pic with Grandma and Madi.
After a day at the winery, we all went to Turtle Bay together- which is always a great stop for the kids.

What an awesome weekend!
I have always loved this time of year- but since becoming a mom, fall also has become a bit more hectic than other seasons because I chose to give birth to my 3 children in September, October, and November- so fall also means BIRTHDAY PARTY MADDNESS! Stay tuned for our Halloween Birthday Bash post...

Sisters at Play

2009-09-29T15:54:00.000-07:00

Madison almost 11 months, Kylee almost 6 years

My Little Man is 4!

2009-09-26T23:14:00.000-07:00

Owen has been BEGGING to be 4 since his buddies started turning 4 last fall... and he is SO happy he finally caught them. When November rolls around we're gonna start hearing about how much he'd like to be FIVE now... but I'll take this nice month of peace and happiness with Owen being the big numero cuatro. I cannot believe it's been FOUR years since I became a mom to a son. I love what Owen has brought to our family, he's spirited, full of emotion, loves his family and friends, and is very good about learning and following the rules -as long as they are rules that he isn't currently the one breaking :). He keeps me on my toes, and keeps me laughing with his cute, witty comments all day long. I am amazed by his growth, and can't helped but stop and stare at the BOY he's morphed into. He is no longer my LOUD talking chatter box, goofy-grinning little toddler. I sat in preschool and watched him lead his class in their morning calendar routine last week (in English and Spanish), and I was just lost in the moment. His teacher looked at me, and said, "What happened to that little boy that used to toddle around here?" It's crazy, he insists on signing in his own name and date every morning- he's on the fast track to Kindergarten now... and I kinda just want to push the pause button and slow it all down. Hold on speed racer... just soak it up, preschool is awesome- let's focus on finishing this year up, ok, buddy? But, I love my little man and no matter how much I miss those sweet baby days, I am so proud of him and his never ending passion for growing, learning, and exploring life. Happy 4th Birthday, Owen.

Purple Penguins

2009-09-26T23:01:00.000-07:00

That's right. We are the proud Purple Penguins. And our first game was awesome.

Coach Dad gives some last minute tips. Now which way is our goal?

Owen got in there with the bigger kids and held his own.

Kylee is a second year player- so she's one of the veterans on the team. She scored the final GOOOOOOAAAAAAALLLL of the game.

Great game- now tackle Coach!

Relay for Life 2009

2009-09-26T22:23:00.000-07:00

This year our family participated in our 8th annual Relay for Life. This is a 24 hour event to raise funds and awareness in the global fight against cancer. Our county celebrated it's 10th year Relaying, and we had a strong turnout, as usual! We didn't do a lot of individual fundraising this year, with the economy the way it is. But, we did an awesome fundraiser at the event with our team- that was a huge success! We always walk a lot at Relay, because the goal is to keep someone from your team walking every minute for the full 24 hours. We learned of a "lap tracker" fundraiser that would have people keep track of how far they were actually walking by placing a bead on a necklace each time they completed a lap. We tracked mileage this way- and the biggest surprise was the enthusiasm the kids had for making their necklaces longer. I was shocked! My little Owen walked just under 4 miles, and Kylee walked 5 1/2 miles. I had no idea my kids could walk so far. My 8 year old nephew walked 13 miles! The children love being a part of Relay every year- and as they get older, they are learning more about why we are out there and why it's important to continue to walk for this cause. Here's some event pictures:

Kylee and Brynn sporting their shades

Our fearless captain, Linda, gives our teammate and SURVIVOR, Shirene, her 20 mile bead. She walked 25 miles by the closing ceremonies!

And, this year, there was some cause for worry at our opening ceremonies for the event. Our town's Lumber Mill burned to the ground. Bombers flew directly overhead shortly after the fire broke out- right next to our event.

This shot is from our site- our "Celebrating Life" Cake looks like we added some special effects in the background.
The mill is our town's largest employer, and they will rebuild... but it's going to be a rough road for a bit to get everyone back on their feet. Luckily, we live in an amazing town- every one really pulls together in times like these. Just like at Relay, where every year the American Cancer Society tell us- "we may be small, but we are mighty!"

August Recap and Labor Day Weekend

2009-09-07T15:33:00.000-07:00

The past month has been filled with many milestones for all the kids. Documenting these wonderful moments in my children's lives seems to be harder and harder the more busy we get. But, I decided I need to start making time for the important things after a devastating loss this week. A close family friend died in his sleep from a heart attack at the young age of 27- and we spent the weekend saying goodbye with his family and mourning his very early departure from our life. His dad told us to treasure our kids everyday- and we are doing our best to be grateful for each day we are given with our beautiful, healthy children. Here are a few pictures to catch you all up on what we've been up to...

Daddy built the treehouse for the kids just before school started! It turned out like a nice deck, the kids sit out there in their chairs eating snacks, enjoying the view, and chatting about life. It's very cute.

August 18 was the first day of school, Kylee's in 1st Grade and Owen's in Preschool. We jumped right into the school routine this year. Wes starts work at 6:30, so I know I'm on my own with the morning rush, and have been super organized with my routine. Lunch is packed, breakfast is planned, and clothes are layed out the night before- when the kids get up they know what they need to do and I can focus on getting Madison ready. We are out the door and walking everyday by 8 am, we drop Kylee at her class, then Owen, Madison and I take a walk through town and have Owen to his school by 9. I get home by 9:30 and have some time with Madi before she goes down for her nap. I love my school mornings, and so do the kids!

I pick Owen up at noon, and we get to have lunch together and play a few games and have some quiet time before Kylee gets home at 3. Since she is a big 1st grader, she doesn't need a parent meeting her at the bus stop anymore, and takes the bus all the way to the bottom of our hill (The full 25 min bus route)- I still like to make sure she makes it to our stop- and wait eagerly with the kids as she gets off the bus and treks up our steep hill. Owen usually feels bad and runs down to meet her and help her carry her sweatshirt or backpack. They are such good buddies!

Homework is a part of our daily routine now! Kylee's pretty good about sitting at her desk and getting her work done right after school, before she heads out to play with Owen.

We had a few short weeks of school when we first started, and one week night Wes was able to go kayaking at the river with friends. Since we didn't have school in the morning, the kids and I went out to watch them. It was awesome.

Owen and Kylee at the river.

Madison is seriously mobile now. She is super fun, and LOVES playing with the kids. She loves playing music with them, making towers, playing in the toy kitchen, with race cars, trains- here she really wanted to build in Owen's workshop right before bed. And Kylee and Owen are really good about playing with her and keeping small items away from her. Even with Ky and O as my back up eyes and ears, Madi STILL finds googly eyes, sequens, stickers and all sorts of other small things that end up in her mouth. I swear I don't know where she finds these things!

And she's climbing... I found her trying to get up to Kylee's top bunk when I was out of the room for a second. She is too quick for me! Oh and Madi finally got her first tooth a few weeks ago and is working on #2! She is hitting all those milestones so quickly now.

And August ended with the birth of a new member of my Franco family! My brother, Pete, and his wife, Sunita, welcomed their first child, Annelyse into this world on Monday, August 31. She is a beautiful baby, and I cannot wait to meet my new little niece! I don't have a picture to post- but as soon as I meet her, I'll post a ton :)

Labor Day Weekend

This weekend we missed our reunion with our college Houseboat friends. We couldn't make the trip down, and be here with the family for funeral services. We were so sad to miss a chance to catch up with our good friends, but ended up having some much needed quality family time. Wes and I packed up the kids for a one night camping trip at the lake 30 minutes from our house. His parents came out and joined us for a campfire and s'mores, which was really fun. So, in honor of HB weekend, the Trinity County HBers had a drink for the Folsom Lake HBers. We miss you guys!
Kylee, Owen, and Madison love camping!

Owen and Mama watching the full moon light up our night

Kylee and Owen return from some early morning fishing.

Lounging in our chairs before our hike.

Owen and Kylee LOVE riding bikes together. They rode all through the campground, and are even working on doing tricks now that riding with no training wheels isn't cool enough for them. So fun!

All in all, we are doing well. We are looking forward to more family fun, as soccer season starts tomorrow. Wes is coaching Kylee and Owen's soccer team (with me as his assistant, YIKES!) and the kids are thrilled. There's nothing like family and we are so lucky for all the blessings we have been given. Sending our love to friends and family near and far- we miss you all!

2009-08-07T07:40:00.000-07:00

August already. Man, where does time go? I haven't posted in a while, and we've been doing too much to try and go into too much detail in one little post. The past month has been full of visitors coming here, and us visiting my family in the Bay Area on two seperate occasions. We have been keeping close to home, otherwise- just enjoying the beauty that surrounds us right here in our mountain town. We have been attending the county library's summer reading program, have been swimming in our local pool, have been hanging with good friends in the park, and all-in-all taking advantage of a nice and hot SMOKE FREE summer (unlike last summer, where we endured wildfire smoke from June through September.) For those who've been wondering, Wes started his new job and is slowly getting used to his new role. He is currently working mostly on the 5 county airports, which he has thrown himself into, and has already enjoyed a flight on a small four passenger plane. He loved it, and needless to say is looking into getting his pilot license- oh my goodness!
I have been enjoying my summer with the kids, and have finally found the time to pick up a book and start some liesurely reading. Upon a friends request, I started the Twilight series... and I cannot put those books down. My "liesurely summer reading" has turned into an obsession, and I'm currently between book 2 and 3 as I am waiting to borrow a friend's book later this morning! I guess my lack of blogging might have something to do with every free moment reading a few more pages of these insanely addictive books!
Kylee and Owen have been doing great this summer- are generally great buddies and playmates... except for yesterday when they wanted to tear each other's heads off and I had to give them a break from each other. I shipped Owen off to his buddy's house, and had Kylee bring a good friend over for a much deserved break from spending WAAAAAAY to much time together this summer.
And Madison is on the fast track now, she is crawling everywhere and pulling to standing and falling over a bunch. She said her first word two days ago- and it was "Ma-ma"... which just melted my heart! She still has no teeth and were wondering if it'll ever happen for this poor kid! She's been chewing vigorously for months, but can't seem to cut any little chompers.
School starts August 18, which is approaching so quickly. Our one last big to-do before summer ends... is make good on our promise to build a treehouse with the kids this summer. Hopefully, now that it is in writing, we'll get going on the project... the kids have been saving up all their spare funds for months and definitely deserve it!

Madison is exploring the house at her own free will. Look out world!

Our Family pic at a good friend's wedding

My favorite Daddy and Madi shot

4th of July 2009

2009-07-06T17:53:00.000-07:00

It was an unforgettable weekend, jampacked full of fun right here in Weaverville. A big part of my Franco family came up to join in on the small town 4th of July festivities and be a special part of Madison's Baptism! Along with her baptism, we were able to spend time on the lake wakeboarding, on the river rafting, in the park for kids games, at home for fireworks and dinner parties, and finally at the Scribner Grandparents celebrating my nephew, Taylor's 5th Birthday. It was so much fun having a house full of Francos for the past few days, we are sure glad you made the trip up! Thanks to everyone who was a special part of this awesome weekend.
And we hope all our friends and family out there had a happy and safe 4th!

The Bi-Monthly Update

2009-07-01T15:23:00.000-07:00

WE LOVE SUMMER!!!!!

The kids and I are still loving these fun summer days! I was hoping for a few "lazy days," but we just haven't made time for those yet. I thought there'd be more time for me to post about all we've been up to, but that just hasn't happened. So I'll just do a big summary now... and try to catch you up on some of our lastest adventures!

Madison is 8 months old! She loved her first swim lessons, and is enjoying having the kids around all day because they are always amusing to watch. Madi's definitely our quite one. She sits and smiles and plays independently, but doesn't make much noise... until nightime. She lights up as the kids are having their last bedtime story- she starts squealing and pounding on Owen's head and laughing. She knows her competition will soon be off to sleep, and she'll have a bit of alone time with mom! She is not quite crawling yet, but can get where she needs to go by sliding, and rolling. I am trying to sneakily throw out all of Kylee's teeny rings and jewels and beads... but somehow I keep finding more and more on the carpet. It is much more dangerous in our house now than it was when the other two were babies... these big kids have way too many small chokable items to keep up with! Luckily, Madi's still safe in her play pen and crib, and of course in her favorite place- mama's arms. I just love my sweet baby girl!

I was definitely the most worried about Owen adjusting to a big change in his routine when school got out, but he is actually thriving! He's still my determined little guy, he had his heart set on riding his bike just like Kylee does- and made me take his training wheels off his two-wheeler. After a couple days of practice, he's been riding around like a champ... and his favorite summer activity is going to the black top at the elementary school so he can race around like a maniac. His second favorite activity is fishing with dad. I am a self proclaimed non-fisherman, and have no idea how that fishing pole thing works. So, I'm not much help when it comes to teaching the kids some fishing skills. But, we got lucky on Father's Day, and Wes, his dad and brother took a day off for the first time in so long, and we went to the lake! After a few miutes of watching Dad cast... Owen could do it all by himself. I even tried to do it on Owen's pole, and did it all wrong... but Owen has it down. He'll sit there for 20-30 minutes, just casting and reeling in the lures- and it's hard to keep Owen focused on one activity for more than a few minutes (anyone who has eaten a meal with Owen can vouch for that. The kid just can't focus on sitting at that same table with that same food for that long.)

Owen did great at swim lessons, and can swim underwater like a fish... well, with his unique style, it's kinda more like a worm!

I'm just super happy that Owen is now well past the 3 1/2 year old mark, and he is physically thriving, he is actually able to do the things he has his heart set on- which means he doesn't have all the frustration and anger issues he's been battling (don't get me wrong, he does still have his temper... but it's much more manageable!) Yay!

And Kylee is loving these summer days. She is definitely the social butterfly of the group. Every morning she wants to know what we are doing, where we are going, and who we are meeting up with. She loves our playdates, library days, the community pool days, and is really excited for many July birthday parties, our upcoming travels and all the awesome people we plan to have up for visits this summer. We were so lucky to have Katherine, my next door neighbor from my childhood, and her fiance, Fred, come up for a visit last week. We had such a great time together! The kids are still talking about all the fun they had with them, and can't wait to go to their wedding in August. And Katherine & Fred were troopers, some of the plans I had for fishing at the lake and what not didn't work out, but they didn't mind just hanging in town and helping us get ready for our 1st ever Yard/Lemonade Sale extravaganza. Next up, we've got a huge bunch of my Franco Family making the long drive to join us in some 4th of July fun!
Thanks for all your help, Katherine and Fred!
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Kylee is becoming a swimmer! She can tread water like a champ... and can swim halfway across the pool with her "treading water" form.

Probably the guy with the most going on in our house right now is Wes. He's got some big life changes on the horizon, and we are very excited. He's been working with the family construction business since we moved up in 2002. This winter, for the first time since we've been here, work really slowed down. The slow down in the economy actually reached our small town, and the business struggled. Wes' dad is an amazing father, grandfather, boss, all around person... and the weight of carrying his employees, and not only his household, but the households of his two son's and their families... is a lot of a load for one man to carry. When there were no homes to build, Wes, his Dad, and brother had to find a way to keep the families a float. They started a new business, and have been building custom shower trailers. They are signing these trailers up to be called on when wildfires break out, and camps are set up for the crews fighting these fires. The guys have been spending every free moment since February building these shower trailers and are almost done. They picked up a water truck and will be ready to go if there is a need for shower trailers at fire camps this summer.

And, this April, a job opportunity came up at the Dept. of transportation. Wes has been thinking of getting back into Engineering, and this opportuntity seemed too good to pass up. It was a long application and interview process, and he found out last week that he got the job! It is an entry level position, so he'll have a pay cut, but in the long run it'll be so great for him. He is ready to have a job that he can leave at the office, that doesn't call him at all hours of the night, that'll allow him to have dinner with the fam and time in the evenings to coach the kids, or help with homework. He's excited for the stability, looking forward to some of the road projects he is going to be involved with in his new role, and to finally be able to take some of the financial burden off his dad. He is going to miss the crew, the comraderie with the guys and working with his family. But, he knows he'll join in where he can on the weekends. And one of the absolute best parts of the new job has got to be the commute... I don't think you can get a job much closer to home without working from home! Yep... we look over the roof of the DOT from our driveway!
Next on the agenda... sell the truck!

Whew... sorry that this update is so long, lucky for you readers all I have going on in my life is exactly what I already posted about, just keeping up with my family and maintaining the maddness! Oh, and my awesome hubby took the evening off last night so I could get my hair done. Yay for much overdue mommy time!

Grad Week 09

2009-06-15T17:28:00.000-07:00

Whoooo hooo... my computer is back online! Here is a slideshow of the last week of school- and there'll be more photos to come of our exciting first days of summer. Enjoy!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Hello Summertime

2009-06-08T15:37:00.000-07:00

We made it! School's out for summer break after an awesome final few weeks. I was bouncing back and forth between Kindergarten and Preschool field trips and end of the year activities... and I had zero time to post about it. Last week was a big one, Kylee ended her TBall season, had a beautiful Ballet Recital, we got to have my parents up for a visit, had Owen's 1st year Preschool Graduation, had my niece and nephew's Preschool graduation in Lewiston, had Kylee's Kindergarten Graduation, and even worked in a visit to my nephew's High School Graduation. Crazy! But somehow we were able to do everything and it was all very cute and unforgettable.

Owen's Preschool Grad didn't have me too worried (as far as emotional mommy stuff!)because he'll be doing it again next year. It was his first time in front of a big audience, and he really put on a show! He began the ceremony by covering his ears, because he didn't like everyone singing around him. Then he moved on to the "nose-picking" stage of the show... but, thankfully, that didn't last long. He really pulled it together for the majority of the songs, he kind of had this "80's hair band rock star" vibe going when he belted out his nursery rhymes. It was awesome. I'll never forget how happy his eyes were when he brought his diploma back to me, he was very proud! And, we were very proud of our little man!

Kylee's Graduation had me a little more worried... I had some teary eyed moments the last few days driving her to school. Mostly, because I have had THE BEST Kindergarten experience with her. I have enjoyed her class, her teacher, and all the exciting things Kylee has loved doing in school. She has loved every single day of this school year, and her bond with her teacher has been absolutely unbeatable. He was a fantastic intro into school life, and Kylee is really, REALLY sad to leave his class. To make matters worse, he was laid off, which made it so hard for all of us parents to have a good feeling going into next year. Weaverville is a good school, but we are wondering how the students are going to handle bigger primary classes and the loss of truly great teachers, like Kylee's. So, after a WONDERFUL graduation ceremony, Kylee and I were sure to let her teacher know how much his hard work was appreciated... we had snuck in and got all of her classmates to sign a matted picture frame as a final gift. He, in turn, gave me a Thank You for volunteering card and plant, and thanked me, mostly, for letting him have my sweet little Kylee in his class all year long. He was so complimentary of her as a student- I was such a proud mama! Somehow, we made it out of there with just a few tears... and now we are officially in full-swing summertime mode!

We've got swim lessons every morning, then lunch and playdates in the park, then "Mama's Summer School" at home (I know it's super corny, but Owen, esp., needs a schedule and it helps us keep up on our reading and school work during these long summer days), then quiet time (aka... Mom gets a few moments to get on the computer and/or get house work done- today I voted for messy house) then outside playtime while I make dinner! I'm loving summer break, it's still busy, but it's a more relaxed kind of busy.

I've got a whole lovely slideshow made up on my computer... but unfortunately during all the craziness of last week, our router went out, and my computer is officially offline. So, I'm on Wes' computer and all of our photos are being held hostage on my computer... I'll post that slideshow when that new router arrives...until then- you all will just have to use your imaginations and try to picture how cute all the events of last week were! Happy Summer Break, everyone!

Mother's Day 2009

2009-05-11T10:31:00.000-07:00

Here's our Mother's Day in pictures.

Daddy was amazing as usual... was on diaper duty most of the day!

The Scribner men made us all a delicious brunch- heart shaped biscuits and homemade sausage gravy, eggs, bacon, sausage, potatoes, fruit salad, fresh baked cinnamon rolls, Kona coffee, and Mimosas! Mmmmmm... I miss it already.

My first Mother's Day with Madi

What's a mother's day without a few meltdowns...

We pull it together for a Mother's Day pic with all my wonderful kiddos. And they spoiled me with some beautiful handmade cards, peoms, plants, and Kylee even made me a ceramic pot in art class. What a lucky mama I am!

Now it's back to the grind... I'm off to Kindergarten for our first swim day! I'm not really looking forward to getting into a swimsuit in front of these kids... but am actually excited for my first dip in our new pool.

Super Saturday

2009-05-09T21:22:00.000-07:00

Today was a day for the kids. We had quite an agenda, with ballet at 9, TBall games from 10-12, a Children's Festival in the park (full of more great kids activities than I could name!), and ending with the Big Splash grand opening at the new community pool!It was jam-packed full of fun... and I had to post a few cute pictures before I head to bed.

Kylee's team cheers her on from the dugout
Grandma Linda and Madison at the Children's Festival Kylee and the 3 amigos with their faces painted Kylee and Owen both tried out the rock wall this year Kylee and Owen went half way into the new pool for the Big Splash Madi just loves her new Giraffe hat from the Festival

Publish Post or Save Now

2009-05-06T11:25:00.000-07:00

I have so much on my mind these days... and I decided to write some of it down to get it off my chest. But, I was torn between saving this post or just publishing it even though it is pretty negative, depressing stuff. I decided to hit publish... so this is a warning to anyone reading, that this post contains depressing life issues. Here goes...

I have been seriously neglecting my blog as of late, and it is for many reasons. The usual, "my daily life is completely crazy insane busy..." and then there is the whole, "just not feeling my usual self." I don't know what it is, but for about the last month, I have been doing some serious thinking about the important things, the things that matter. Anytime something tramatic happens in your life, you stop what you are doing and take time to process, cope and regroup. I haven't personally gone through any trama, but I have been unusually strongly affected by the devastation that goes on around me. I have been desperately trying to process events that I hear about, and am brought to tears just hearing morbid story after story. It started when the Oakland Police officers were murdered, and when we went to the A's game in April, the ceremony honoring them and raising money for their families was extremely overwhelming. All those children without fathers, parents without sons... unthinkable. Then we went home after the game and had a nice Easter weekend with my family and neighbors. Turns out, after that same A's game, my brother's childhood best friend was going home for the last time. His girlfriend murdered him on his front porch, she waited for him to return from the game, then shot him in the face. He was a good guy, in a bad relationship, and he lost his life, his mother lost her only son in an instant. Unthinkable. I hear terrible news all the time, it's always hard to process, but lately, it's like I can't process it. I look at my kids, and I feel blessed, so blessed. But, at the same time, I feel like I have no control over what is to come. I have been given these healthy children, and all I want to do is guide them the best that I can and hope that we will have a lifetime together. As Kylee and Owen are growing and encountering more and more life situations, I do my best to be a positive influence. But, in this crazy world, I don't even know what the best answer is anymore. When Kylee tells me about another Kindergarten girl bully-ing her, and calling her a loser then forcing her down the slide- my mama insticts kick in and I just want to go down there and rip that kid out of class and see how tough she is in front of grown ups. But, how I react, is how my kids are going to react. I told Kylee she doesn't need to waste her time being around someone who doesn't seem to want to have any fun, and to find her good friends and try to always search out the positive. I don't want my kids to be victims, and I certainly don't want them to hold their anger in, and grow up being abusive and taking it out on others. Dealing with anger is something that needs to start at a young age. I get tested every single day, when addressing Owen's outbursts. I can tell that kid holds the weight of the world on his 3 year old shoulders, and he gets explosive at times. We try so many different methods, and I seriously don't know what the answer is. I do know that I don't yell anymore, and I don't fight his behavior anymore, because that absolutely doesn't work. He needs strong, firm, consistant disclipline, and I do my best to be that. When I scream and yell, everyone feels so much worse, including myself. So, now I talk calmly, and we take lots of deep breaths and we talk about what is upsetting Owen. It doesn't work right away, but he always calms down and he always wants to talk about what happened eventually. I have really changed the way I look at Owen, espcially. I used to feel like "I'm his mom, I know best, he needs to listen to me so he can learn the difference between right and wrong." But now, I respect that he is his own person, I gave birth to him, but I don't own him. I think of him like a little man, who has very real, strong feelings. I talk to him rationally, and we work together to figure out right and wrong. He still gets pissed, but at least now I don't just instantly shut him down for bad choices. We have to work through almost every situation. Anger is very real. It is real for babies, for toddlers, for kids, teens, and adults. Everybody gets angry, it's how we handle it that makes or breaks you. I woke up today and heard on the news that a boyfriend was upset at his girlfriend, so he threw her 3 month old baby on a highway. I couldn't hold back tears- the visions of this beautiful baby can't leave my mind. We live in a terrible world where people do terrible things and get away with it and I'm absolutely sick of it. How is this mom supposed to go on? I felt so much guilt changing my baby girl's diaper, as she smiled and giggled up at me. A mother saying goodbye to a child, of any age, at the hands of a cold blooded killer is something I cannot process.

The only thing that keeps going through my head is that these adults decided that murder was an OK, reasonable reaction in a moment of extreme rage, they obviously had no clue how to handle themselves in real life situations. Or do they? Is killing each other going to soon become the norm? What has happened in our world? Why is this ok? Families have lost beloved family members because enraged people decided they should end innocent life.

So, that is where my head has been the past few weeks. Don't get me wrong, it's not like I've checked out and given up on our society, but it's just got me thinking. And it's got me to slow down and make sure to enjoy every second I have with my beautiful family. Do me favor and hug your loved ones today.

TBall

2009-04-01T09:49:00.000-07:00

We had our first practice for TBall last night. Kylee's on the Diamondbacks, and she loves it. I was actually enjoying the break we've had between sports, and not having the evening craziness to get the kids fed and to practice and back home in bed at a reasonable hour... and I was secretly thinking of keeping Kylee out of TBall this year. She's done a ton of sports, and Owen isn't old enough to participate yet, so I thought about just continuing to play with them both on my own in the backyard. But, Kylee REALLY took to this sport, she was actually aggressive, and loved playing first base and tagging batters out. So, we're committed- and I'm looking forward to it. Baseball and softball are really big in our town, and it was great to be out there with a bunch of parents and the weekend games are going to be a lot of fun. Yay T-Ball!

Kylee's not super excited at 3rd base

Her first at bat

Lovin first base

Owen's a trooper and decides to play ball with Mom on the sidelines

She's Rolling

2009-03-26T13:23:00.000-07:00

I finally caught a roll on tape! Now if I could just figure out how to post it vertically...

When is it going to stop?

2009-03-23T13:58:00.000-07:00

I just can't seem to stop thinking about the cops that lost their lives in Oakland this weekend. The suffering of the family members of these officers has got to be beyond anything imaginable. The fellow officers of these brave men- I can't even find the words to describe how difficult it would be to put on the uniform and go back out on those streets. I live 4 1/2 hours away from Oakland now- and can feel the tensions and dividing lines that are being drawn all the way up here in my small mountain town. My parents live in the same East Oakland house I lived in for 18 years, a home that holds so many of my wonderful childhood memories. Everytime I hear about the break-ins, the violent crimes, the murder rates, I think about my parents- who taught for a combined 55 years in the often-times hostile Oakland Public School environment- and are trying to enjoy their retirement years in a city that they have given so much to. I think about them, and I am grateful to those brave officers who go into Oakland everyday and do what they can to protect the people of this city. I always worry about my parents safety, but I always rest assured that they are going to be ok. As I sat and watched the pictures flash on TV, my jaw dropped and the tears flowed. These are the streets that I called home for so many years. These are the streets my family members and friends still walk everyday. I can't imagine walking down the street and seeing a man stand up and open fire on two officers in the middle of a busy Saturday afternoon. I can't imagine the terror for those hours as the cops went on a manhunt, and eventually engaged in this horrific gun battle in an apartment complex where so many people live. I saw a picture of an elderly woman walking with a young child, and SWAT and OPD officers running and darting around her with assault rifles drawn. It looked like a scary war zone. Like any tragic event, it is so unthinkable that something like this really happened. It's like some terrible nightmare that real people are trying to muster up the energy to get through. I guess it is sitting so heavily on me because it hits so close to home, literally. No matter where I have lived in my life, Oakland has always been home- because it's where I was born and raised. It's what formed me into who I am, and after I moved away, it's the place where we have always gathered when we get to be with all of my family. Lately, with all the hostilities increasing amongst the people of Oakland and the police force, I have been thinking the city is really starting to get bad- worse than I ever remember it being through all the years I lived there. I even talked to Wes about it one night and said, "I'm beginning to think Oakland is a great place to be FROM," I'm finally coming to the realization that the violence that permeates the streets of the O- can reach anyone. That scares the heck out of me. I have never given up on the city before. Not when the man with the gun robbed the bank with my mom in it. Not when the man with the gun attacked, assaulted, and robbed my dad after school in his own classroom on his last day as a teacher in Oakland. But now- I feel a strong sense of fear that there is no end in sight and my parents and brothers could really become the worst kind of victims. I am going to do my best to have faith "this too, shall pass..." but I don't know how much more of this fear my heart will hold. For now, all I can do is pray for those who have lost loved ones, and hope that somehow Oakland will rise again.

What a Week!

2009-03-20T14:00:00.000-07:00

My goodness, I don't know if Kylee's little heart could take anymore excitement this week. It's a good thing it's Friday- we are gonna all need a nice break from all theses big life moments to transition back to reality! In the past 5 days Kylee has lost her first two teeth, has become a little bit famous in our small town for having her picture in the paper, and just recieved the Principal's Award as Kindergarten Student of the Month at her elementary school assembly! I'm so proud of my Kylee, we decided to treat the kids to ice cream after school. Whoo hoo! Here are the pics... Kylee's super happy race finish makes it to our local paper! Kylee's teacher gives her the Principal Award The Superintendant shakes Kylee's hand Owen gives Kylee his star card he and mom made her Madison loves watching big sis Kylee, toothless, with her two awards from the assembly

All about Owen

2009-03-19T09:22:00.000-07:00

When we found out we were having a baby last year, our biggest concern was definitely Owen and how he would react to this big change in life as he knew it. He was going from being our baby, mama's wild little man, to being sandwiched by GIRLS as the middle child. I spent my pregnancy butting heads with him, he was dealing with his terrible two's and three's, and I was tired and huge and had a ton of anxiety about what this little ball of energy and fury would do to a newborn baby. Luckily, when Madison was born, she became Owen's pride and joy. I couldn't have been more wrong about how he would handle his new role in the family. He has taught me that WORRY is a useless waste of time, and I need to enjoy each day I have with them. Oh the things I learn from my children.... the list is very long!

Owen is thriving and maturing before my eyes more and more every day. He still has a temper, he still is overtired, but he is getting so much better about handling his anger in more positive ways. It has been such a learning process in parenting for me. He has very real strong feelings, and I find if I take the time to hear about them, he takes the time to calm down and not react so terribly. I think that with all the stress in the world lately, with Daddy and the crew searching frantically for construction jobs, with the schools struggling and teachers and principals leaving, and the worry in our hearts about what the future holds- though we haven't talked about it in front of them, the kids have picked up on the worry that is always there. I decided that no matter what happens to us financially, we need to focus even more on being good, positive role models for our kids. In the last month I've developed a simple, positive rewards chart in my house. It has been an AMAZING tool for the kids, especially Owen. I took our kitchen wipe board and set up a magnetic board with their names on the top, and different small rewards to get to each day- with a big treasure box reward at the end. The treasure box is simply full of little items from Target's Dollar section- and the kids love it! All they have to do is be positive people, and do positive things to move spaces forward. If they are good friends, good helpers, good sports, are playing nicely, are cleaning up their messes, washing their hands, setting the table, putting away laundry- if they do any of these things or other wonderful things they come up with throughout the day on their own- I notice, and praise them, and they move forward. They love working towards a goal, they love being rewarded for being great members of our "team" and they cheer each other on as they move forward. Moving backwards is the alternative, and it happens every now and then, and is devastating. It's worse than any time out or spanking, they work so hard for that goal, and hate to lose ground. It has been so great for discipline! Owen really, really hates moving away from that treasure box, so he does everything in his power to remain positive.
Owen moving up the chart!

Enough about discipline- on to the fun stuff! Owen's weekdays are busy with preschool, and then a few hours with mom and Madi before Kylee gets home from school. Twice a week he gets a playdate with his friend Hayden during that time, and the other days he's begging to play with his best buddy, Brian. I swear these two were seperated at birth- the teachers always tell "Owen/Brian" stories at school- they are like two peas in a pod. They have very similar personalities, are the same size, interested in all the same stuff, and are HILARIOUS to listen to. They both talk a ton- though, many have said they've never met anyone who talks as much as Owen- but, that doesn't bother Brian. Brian is the only one who likes to watch movies with Owen- they blab through pretty much all of them. They are also very good about telling each other how glad they are to be buddies, it is very sweet. The sad part is, Brian is a year older, and he is having to go on to Kindergarten next year, much to his mom and my dismay. We attend a state preschool, and he is just days away from the December cut off... so the preschool won't have a place for him. We haven't told the boys, we'll just have to have mandatory playdates next year to keep them together!

Owen and Brian check out the gold dust and destruction made by the Leprechaun's on St Patty's Day.

What I love so much about Owen is his enthusiasm for life. He is very smart, he thinks things through, and he loves to learn anything new. He'd follow Kylee anywhere, he simply adores her, and wants to do whatever she can do. He amazes us, because he studies how she does something... like say, getting all the way across the monkey bars... and he'll try it and do it the same day. Luckily, Kylee is a SUPER good sport, and is always proud of Owen's great ability to pick up on anything he tries so quickly. He is young in a big kids world, and there isn't much out there activity-wise for 3 year old boys in our small town. He has been good about sitting out and watching Kylee's soccer, basketball, dance, and now T-Ball, but I am hoping the coaches will at least let Owen practice with Kylee's team this spring. He's been craving some after school fun, as well!

Most of all, Owen is such a sweet, caring human being. He loves asking me to squat down to his level, and says "I need to tell you something," with a big, mischievous grin... and then whispers sweet things in my ear, like "You are the best mom ever" or "I just love you, Mom." He's silly, and loves making all of us laugh, and you can hear his hysterical laughter above all others whenever Madison does something super cute and unexpected. He loves when anyone asks about his sisters, he'll tell you Kylee is 5 and Madison is 4 months, and his job is to protect them. I'm starting to think Owen likes his role as the "man of the house" when Daddy's working, and he's already learning there are many positives to having an older and a younger sister. He always lets Kylee's friends baby him and take care of him, and he loves that the girls in his preschool are magnets to Madison's baby seat. He'll "demonstrate" the proper rocking technique for his favorite little preschool ladies. His Uncle Dave gave the Franco perspective I had never even thought of when we saw him over the holidays... when Owen's a teenager, he'll have BOTH older and younger girls visiting the house to be with his sisters! Maybe being a middle child isn't so bad after all.

Yay!

2009-03-15T19:50:00.000-07:00

Kylee lost her 1st tooth tonight!

Madison at 4 months old

2009-03-14T11:09:00.000-07:00

It's been two weeks since Madi turned 4 months old- and I've been a slacker posting about it! She's growing too quickly and still remains a super happy baby. She giggles all the time and loves being a part of all the excitement at home with her big bro and big sister At her four month check up, she weighed 14 lbs 6 oz, and is 26 1/2 inches long. She remains very long for her age- she was born in the 90th percentile, and now is above 95% for length. Weight wise, she's gone from 75-90% at birth to 50% now, but that's pretty normal for my kids. They start off big, then become petite! She also was a champ when she got her shots this time around, she cried for a couple of seconds, then gave the nurse the sweetest smiles! That made everyone happy. She is the first of my babies to like tummy time, which is making her very strong- I think rolling might be happening soon. We've started solid foods, and she is responding typically- lots of horrified faces! Here are some new pics and a video of Madison Joy. Tummy time Her first rice cereal feeding Sitting in the Bumbo

Madi adores her Daddy! He can always make her giggle :)

Kylee

2009-03-12T14:23:00.000-07:00

I swear I do have two other kids... but Kylee seems to be having so many big things going on in her life right now, that I can't help but post about them. She's suddenly hitting all these "firsts" in her life- and with the craziness of our days, I have to sit down and write about them before the memories fade.
Our week nights have been busy with playdates, practices and games... and in the chaos of one of the nights, Kylee got all ready for practice and came up to me and said "I tied my shoes!" Sure enough, she had taught herself to tie and double knot those shoes with no help. She wears velcro or boots most of the time, so we barely ever have had a shoe to practice on... but at night she switches to her BBall sneakers and usually gets little help from mom because she's nursing the baby before we head out. But Kylee and Owen both love doing things without any help from us anyhow, so she figured it out on her own. I was quite impressed.

Last week we had our last FOUR Basketball games, and on Tuesday we had our final BBall party. Kylee's coach brought pizzas, awards, and team pictures to the gym and had a night of fun planned, which included some BBall drills as competition between the players and the parents. It was really fun, and in the end, the little kids romped us- mostly due to the fact that the coach implemented a "skipping race." She did this race in honor of her littlest player, Kylee, who made it a point to skip- instead of run- through almost every game this season. She said that Kylee's skipping was so powerful, that at one point she had 3 other teammates on the court skipping alongside her. It was hilarious! So, the kids skip-raced us parents- which was SO funny! Some of the super competitive dads tried hard to skip fast, but it was no match in style or speed for the K-2nd graders.

Last Basketball game against cousin Shawn!

Basketball is now done and before we move into our spring T-Ball season, we had a transitional running race this weekend. Every year my parents come up and race the 10 mile in Redding, while Wes, his mom and I race the 3 mile. This year, Wes and I didn't do the official race, but were able to work in a nice little jog together between all the races and the watching of the kids. Kylee was old enough to race the 1 mile this year- and her school put together 5 scoring teams to compete! She did awesome- she didn't walk (or skip!) once! As always, it was a great family day with both Wes and my parents- and his brother Adam and cousins, too!

The runners from Trinity County have a great showing at the NorCal river trail race in Redding!

Kylee racing the 1 mile for Weaverville

Kylee and some of her teammates

Our "official" family racers!

After the race with cousin Shawn

And finally, while Kylee has been waiting for her first 2 loose teeth to fall out, we've been staying very entertained in the backyard. I've got Kylee and Owen practicing their hitting off a T and catching, and they're mostly loving it (there is an incident involving mom hitting a line drive straight into Owen's chin... but we don't have to get into that.)! Kylee asked me to take her training wheels off her bike while we were out back, and she is doing so well riding! We have limited patio space, but she's been pedaling short distances without falling or standing to stop! OK... I think we're all caught up on Kylee's milestones... I'll try to post about someone else next time, I promise!

Riding with no training wheels!

Not so little, little girl

2009-02-27T09:29:00.000-08:00

I haven't written in so long... after returning from Hawaii we jumped right back into our busy routine. Kylee seems to have the most going on in her life right now- so I'm going take some time to blog about my biggest little girl. She goes to school full days now, and even takes the bus home after school.
It's a whole 45 second bus ride because we live so close to school- but she loves it because she feels independent. She has definitely started to spread her wings a lot sooner than I ever imagined. I get filled with so much emotion watching her morph into this person that I'm absolutely proud of, yet a teeny bit scared of as she acts way too old for her short 5 years of life. She's a great friend to her classmates, teammates, and cousins, loves to participate in all activities, and has quite the social life coming from two parents who are... how shall I say this... homebodies. Wes and I learned in Hawaii that we are not cool- we kinda already knew that- but we've moved into the "not cool parents" category in our daughters eyes. She even flat out refused a shopping and ice cream trip with her mom and dad and bro and sister because she didn't want to possibly miss out on a second of potential pool time with the cousins. The conversation went like this,
Mom:"Kylee, we are leaving Hawaii tomorrow, if you want to buy souvenuirs with all the money you saved for Hawaii, you have to come with us now."
Kylee: "No thanks."
M: "No, thanks? So you don't want anything to remember this trip by? Your cousins have already bought all their treats, and they will have great things to remind them of this wonderful place. And now it's you and Owen's turn. You really don't want to go SHOPPING?"
K: "Nope."
M: "Ky, we'll be able to hang by the pool when we get back, just like we do every afternoon. You aren't missing out on anything."
K: "I still don't want to go."
Dad: "Were getting ice cream while were out."
K: "I don't want to go with you guys."
M & D: "Wow. Unbelievable."

Luckily, we are still in charge, and threw her in the car with us- but still, are we THAT awful that ice cream isn't even fun with us anymore? Lately, she has really been into her basketball- which, one might think, is great! But, while she does like basketball, she LOVES the fact that we are meeting with friends at night to play. We catch her checking out what everyone is wearing and all that when she should be going for the ball... so Owen and I stand up and cheer for her and occassionally yell "Kylee, get your head in the game!" She gets soooo embarassed by us and shoots us this awful "stop that" face. I can't believe we are so uncool.

I know it was bound to happen eventually, we might as well start getting used to it! I know I've totally got my work cut out for me with TWO potential drama queens in the house... but the good still outweighs the bad. When I am in Kylee's classroom, I am so proud of her. She is learning so much, and is really a great student. I feel great knowing she is out there in the world and she is being helpful and obedient in the classroom . And, yes, she is SO into fashion and music and dancing all hip-hop style when she gets home, but it's what makes her happy and it's all in good fun. She's got a sweet heart, and it's hilarious as she gets her basketball gear on and says, with a fierce game face, "who are we fighting tonight?"
FIERCE GAME-ON FACE
And once we are there watching the game, Wes always says it looks as if they are in a field of daisy's the way she skips up and down the court rather than aggressively battling up and back.
KYLEE'S ACTUAL SMILEY GAME-ON FACE
It's so cute and funny to watch!

As I've said before, she's also a wonderful sister. Wes and I watched from the top bleachers as she and Owen hung out on their own amongst their cool peers at the gym last night. All the school age girls loved Owen , they lifted him up and babied him when he fell down. Kylee gave him the biggest hugs and showed all the grown ups nearby Owen's owies. It was too cute! And at home, Kylee is amazing with Madison. She not only volunteers to change diapers, but feels it's her job to keep that baby happy. Madi constantly smiles and giggles at Kylee's goofiness, and coos the sweetest little sounds to big sis. I can tell these girls are gonna have some great sisterly talks in the future!

Kylee is growing up, I'm accepting it slowly, and am especially teary-eyed as I write that she already has her first loose tooth! I remember when she got her first teeth not so many years ago... and it's hard to believe she's on her way to those cute, tooth-less, grade school pictures very, very soon!

Ahhhhhhh...

2009-02-09T00:48:00.000-08:00

Hawaii. It is a magical place. Good people, beautiful land... the islands really take you away from all the worries that everyday life may bring. It was a great trip, we have tons of stories and memories to share. But after a long trip back... a redeye flight with lay overs in LA (at 4am) and San Francisco (at 10 am)- we are glad to be home safe and excited to have a good night's sleep tonight in our own beds. For now, enjoy the slide show. I did my best to edit, I cut from 580 photos down to 150... so watch it when you have some time.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

2009-01-22T14:59:00.000-08:00

As usual... the days seem to just fly by and I can't find the time to post pics of our daily adventures. Between the B-day parties... (the kids have gone to 5 and turned down I don't know how many so far this month...)school, practice, playdates... and now PACKING FOR OUR TRIP TO HAWAII on Tuesday... I figured I had to clean off my camera and write a quick update before you all get bombarded with Hawaii photos upon our return. Yep- that's right, we are taking our first big family trip with the whole gang- and it's not just our little family of five. Wes' parents have been planning this trip for a year, they are taking their kids and grandkids on the trip of a lifetime to enjoy some of their favorite Hawaiian locations. I 've always known I've lucked out when it comes to in-laws, Wes' parents are amazing- but this trip really goes above and beyond. They truly just want to experience Hawaii with their Grandkids, so they're really doing everything in their power to get us all over there. They are the most giving people I know.
We'll spend 4 days in Oahu, then a week in Kauai. It's going to be an amazing trip- the kids are counting down and can't wait to get their bathing suits on and hit the beach! There are 13 of us traveling together- 6 of whom are under the age of 7- so hopefully we'll have really friendly nieghbors on the plane who don't mind A LOT of childhood enthusiasm :) Stay tuned for updates, I'll try to post while we're gone. Until then- here are some pics from the past week at home...

Madison is our super baby- she is so amazingly wonderful, that I have a hard time answering people when they say "are you done having kids now?" I think that we are pretty sure we're done, and I am just soaking up Madi's sweet baby days as much as I can in case she's our last. She is growing quickly and will be 3 months on the 31st! She is holding her head up so well, loves playtime with Daddy- and will give any friendly face the BIGGEST smiles. She's so close to giggling... we can't wait to hear the sweet laughter from one more child in our crazy household!

Last weekend, my mom and dad came up for a visit. They loved seeing how much Madison has changed sinced the holidays... she's so interactive... not to mention chubby with those cute baby rolls!

We had a great time just hanging out and playing. My dad was my coach in all of my elementary school sports, so he and my mom were very excited to catch some of Kylee's Basketball games this weekend. Plus, they were able to practice together in the backyard, since our weather has been so sunny these days.

Kylee is No. 1! She's having a blast on her K-2nd grade team and is getting more and more comfortable with the sport everytime she plays!

She's the point guard and loves bringing the ball down court- then getting rid of it ASAP.

Go Timberwolves

Kylee's got the best fans! Both sets of Grandma's and Grandpa's enjoy watching the VERY entertaining little ones shoot hoops!

First Week Back

2009-01-08T11:08:00.000-08:00

Winter break is over and the kids are back in the school routine. It's been back to early bedtimes and busy mornings, and I kinda miss the carefree days with the kids over break. But it's nice to have a little alone time with Madison in the mornings again, cause she is going through some super adorable stages, and I don't want to miss a second of it! The kids are happy to be reunited with classmates they didn't get to see over break, and these busy days have them so wiped out by the end of the day. Bedtimes have been a breeze! Especially since Kylee started her basketball season, and practice goes til 7:45 pm twice a week. It's awesome, though, she's on a K-2nd grade team, and since practice is so late, Wes is usually done with work and can help coach. She loves having her daddy out there with her, and is picking up on some of the b-ball basics. So far, her biggest accomplishment that she'll tell anyone about is "I got hit in the face twice- and I didn't even cry." If she never touches a basketball this season, and only gains a bit of sports toughness- I will be a happy mom! Here some pics of her first practice:

A 5th grade team helps the "Timberpups" stretch

Kylee doing layups

Kylee and her buddy Hannah

We made it through the Holidays

2009-01-02T10:34:00.001-08:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

The holidays, like the rest of 2008, seemed to fly by at warp speed. We were so busy, both on the road and at home, I haven't had much time to sit down and post anything. And now, I feel like I should be getting on my treadmill since the baby is sleeping and the kids are playing nicely- but I figure if I don't post now, I'll never get around to documenting little Madi's first Christmas. (See that... I'm an expert excercise procrastinator!)

Ever since 2004, we have always made sure that our children wake up in their own beds on Christmas morning. This year was tricky, because Christmas fell on a Thursday, and my cousin was getting married in Napa on Sunday, the 21st. We decided to take off a few extra days of work, and left Sunday morning at 8, for our first road trip with a new baby in our bunch. It was amazing! We made it 3 straight hours to Vacaville with no stops- no potty breaks, the kids just snacked and watched movies with limited fluid intake. In Vacaville, Dad grabbed lunch and pottied the kids while I nursed and changed Madison. We got back on the road within 30 min and made it to Napa in time to get showered and changed for the 2 pm wedding. It was super smooth, we felt like traveling pros! The wedding was at my Uncle's house, and was such a nice setting for a family wedding. It was very quaint, and full of love, but also filled with lots of Franco family excitement and drama. The next morning we traveled with my brother Dave to Oakland, where we got ready for Christmas at my parents. My mom and dad were in Germany visiting my brother John and his family, and their flight had been delayed an extra day. So, we decorated their tree and did a little grocery shopping to make their arrival a little bit easier. They were very jet lagged that night, but got settled and unpacked a bit while we make an enchilada dinner. Wes and my brothers went snowboarding at Sugar Bowl on Tuesday, while my parents and I went running and our usual coffee shop visit. That evening we enjoyed christmas caroling and partying at our annual block party at the neighbors house. Christmas Eve morning I went running with my parents and Dave, and came back and we made a huge breakfast. The kids opened Franco family gifts, and we enjoyed treats from Germany. That evening we went back to Napa for our Christmas Eve tradition, and Wes and I loaded up on coffee, got the kids in their PJs, and made the 4 1/2 hour drive back home to Weaverville. We had such a great time with all my side of the family, and my old nieghbors- and everyone just loved meeting Madison and playing with Kylee and Owen. It was hard to leave, but the kids were excited to get home and in their beds before Santa came. They stayed up most of the drive, which is actually a big help, because Kylee is Madison's personal assistant in the car. She is the official "binky replacer, spit-up wiper, and funny-face maker." Madison just lights up and smiles at the kids these days! All three kids fell asleep about 45 minutes from home- just as we were getting into some pretty snowy conditions. We made it home in good time anyway, and Madison woke up to help us with our Santa duties once we arrived. We were in bed by 2, and up with excited kids by 6- but it was all worth it.

Christmas Day- my first official White Christmas! It snowed all day long, but nothing accumulated to much to knock out power or ruin any of our holiday plans. Wes' parents joined us to watch the kids open their gifts and for a nice biscuits 'n gravy breakfast. We spent the rest of the morning opening toys, cleaning up, unpacking a bit, then got ready and headed to Wes' parents house for a family dinner. It was such a wonderful day, very relaxing and so beautiful with the snow fall as a constant backdrop.

This past week was spent with lots of playdates, since the kids are still off school. We've had someone over almost everyday, and have been having fun with all the new toys. New Years Eve we opted to stay home, it's so much easier to stay at our place with the kids- especially a newborn, so we had our friends, the Bradford's- who have 3 kids, too!- over to celebrate the New Year. The kids had SO much fun, and we couldn't believe that none of them even acted tired until well past midnight. Ringing in the new year surrounded by good friends and excited children seemed to really signify this year and where we are in our life right now.

New Years Day we packed up all the Christmas decorations and are now officially done with the holidays. It was so much fun, and completely exhausting, but as always- so wonderful to be able to spend so much quality time with both of our families. We are truly blessed!

Let the Holidays Begin!

2008-12-20T13:36:00.000-08:00

Winter Break is officially here- the kids are out of school and we are moving full speed ahead into our Christmas activities. The parties at school, with friends, and family have been so fun- and now we are getting set for our holidays in the Bay Area with my family and old friends on the block. We leave first thing in the morning for Napa, after one night there, will be in Oakland for a few days, then back to Napa for Christmas Eve and home to Weaverville late Christmas Eve night. I should totally be packing right now, but I decided to clear my camera and make room for are next set of Christmas 2008 memories. Here's what we did the past few days:

Owen's Preschool visited the Grandma's and Grandpa's at the Convalescent Hospital to sing their Christmas Carols. Grandma Linda joined us for this fun field trip!

Kylee's kindergarten class performed their Rudolph songs dressed in their cute reindeer costumes. They sang a bunch of songs with the 1st, and 2nd graders, too.

Santa came to Owen's Christmas Party, and Owen told him he is 3 years old and wants a Giraffe for Christmas.

Owen and his buddies love the cookies and punch.

Grandma Linda and Grandpa Paul's Christmas party. All the cousins in front of their stockings.

Grandma and Grandpa with all their grandkids

Uncle Adam feeding Madison

Our kids in their new jammies from Grandma

The cousins in their new jammies!

First Snowy Weekend!

2008-12-15T09:57:00.000-08:00

Weekend's like this one make me just love where we live SOOOOO much! We woke up to our first dusting of snow Saturday morning, it was just enough to get the kids excited at the possibility of throwing snowballs at each other. Kylee had ballet, so they had to wait on the snowball wars... but no one seemed to mind because Grandma was bringing the cousins in to check out Kylee's class' little choreographed dance to the Nutcracker ballet. She danced really well, but my camera died two seconds into the show- so I don't have much video to show for it. It didn't snow any more Saturday, but Sunday it snowed all day long. Wes went out to chop wood, so I bundled the kids up in their gear, and sent them out to play. Madi and I had the important job of keeping the fire going inside. It was awesome! The kids would come in freezing every now and then, and I'd warm them by the fire and give them hot cocoa. We didn't get enough snow to bring the sled out on our sled hill, but they are saying we'll get 3-6 more inches today. We had about 4 inches when we woke up this morning, and the kids wanted to go play. We had to get to school- which went really smoothly considering we had friends over late last night, and we woke up a bit late, had to dress in extra layers and dig out the car- but everyone was a bit late today, so it was no big deal! Hopefully we'll be able to do some sledding after I pick the kids up.
Here's some pix...

Kicking off the Holidays

2008-12-05T16:19:00.000-08:00

Sometimes its hard to get motivated for the craziness around the holidays, but having young children has made Christmas' so exciting the past few years. It always takes me back to being a child, and all the magic of the season just warms my heart! Here's a couple of little "moments" to help you get into the Holiday spirit, too!

Kylee's class had a "Polar Express" event last night. I brought Kylee and Owen to the school library in their PJ's and they "boarded the train" to her classroom. Her teacher read the Polar Express, and Santa came in for a visit. He handed out presents to all the students after they quizzed him on all his North Pole knowledge. Afterwards they enjoyed hot cocoa back in the library while the older students played Christmas music. It was such a fun night for the kids! They all loved wearing PJ's at school and I was smiling from ear to ear the whole time! The whole experience was so much fun, a great way to get into the holidays!

Ky and Owen walking to the school in their jammies!

Kylee, Natalie, Owen and Brian meet up in the library

Kylee's classroom door... with their cute "Elvis- Blue Christmas" Theme

Owen, especially,is fully loving all the talk about Santa, and is beyond excited for Christmas this year. His class wrote their letters to Santa, and they all say "Dear Santa, I would like such and such..." and it's very cute. Owen's letter says, word for word, "Dear Santa, I just love you very much. And that's it. Love, Owen" He's been learning all the Christmas carols at school, and is singing them all around the house. Here's a sample of his lovely voice...

Happy Holidays!

Thanksgiving and stuff...

2008-12-04T10:17:00.000-08:00

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

The past week has been a lot of fun- we've all been so busy, I just haven't had much time to sit down and post about it. My mom and dad and their dogs came up on Wednesday before Thanksgiving with the stuffing (or dressing? I still haven't figured out with the difference is) all made up and ready to be stuffed into a Turkey. They dropped it by my in-laws house that evening on the way to our house. When they got here, we had dinner together and talked about the holiday plans. Thanksgiving morning, Wes smoked our 13 lb turkey at our house while my parents and I took the 3 kids for a walk/run. Kylee is becoming quite the little runner- she ditched me, my dad, and Owen, who were a bit slower with the baby, the chihuahua, and Owen's shorter/"really tired" legs. Kylee sprinted to keep up with my mom and her crazy german shepard, and she did great! We got home to help make side dishes then got ready and headed to Wes' parents house for the feast. My mom's sister, Aunt Jeannette, and her husband and two teenage kids met us there- they have never visited us up in Trinity county, and it was such a treat! Uncle Fred's kids, Alex and Maria were AMAZING with Kylee and Owen- they played all weekend with the kids, who just adored their own personal playmates! Wes' mom, Linda, had her house set up beautifully- dinner ( with 2 more 13 lb turkeys!)was delicious, and we all had a nice relaxing time visiting. We took a group walk to the Salt Flat Bridge next to their house, to digest dinner a bit before diving into ALL the different desserts. Yum! Madison slept through almost everything, but opened her eyes every now and then to check out everything. She continued to win the prize for "Best Baby" throughout the weekend as she enjoyed snuggling with all her admirers, and barely fussed. Friday we drove down river with my extended family, to have coffee and breakfast at the Strawhouse. We got back home and went for a hike from our property and into the trail system with some gorgeous views of the Alps. Madi has been doing great hiking in her front carrier, when she needed to nurse about an hour and a half into the hike, I just found a nice log and sat while the family checked out the scenery. We got home and started snacking and enjoying leftovers, then Wes' brother's family and parents joined our big group and we all walked from our house to Main Street for Mountain Magic. This is where Santa comes to ring in the season, and all the cute little shops stay open late giving out hot cider, cocoa, wine, snacks, and freebies to all the people strolling the street. It was so much fun! Saturday my family headed home, and Wes and I hung out with the kids and worked on the house. We have been enjoying the fall weather, and though it is chilly, are still playing outside a lot. We need to start seeing soome rain and snow soon, though, the lakes and rivers around here are lower than I've ever seen them, and we need a wet winter to avoid another summer of wildfires like last year.

In other news, I took all the kids to Madison's 1 month check up yesterday. We are quite a "show" when we go anywhere now! But I just love my Dr's office, they have been treating the kids since Kylee was 2 days old, and they just love them, and the kids love everyone who works there. So, taking the whole crew was not a big deal- we're loud, we've got all sorts of bags and toys and snacks everywhere, but no one seems to mind. In fact, while I was taking Owen to the restroom- our FNP chatted with Kylee and watched Madi, and ended up loading Kylee down with more stuff than we came in with... some old soccer ball and basketball that she brought in to give to a good home. At the end of the appointment, which was a bit more fun than informative (I have a hard time remembering all my baby questions with all the managing of the kids during the exam...) we learned Madi still has a slight heart murmur, but nothing we are too concerned about. She is already 10 lbs 1 oz- where Kylee was 10 lbs 2oz at her 2 month check up! So all was well, we left after visiting the treasure box and getting loaded down with holiday rice crispy treats for the whole family! All in all, a great visit to doctor as a firstime mom-of-three!

Thankful

2008-11-26T07:54:00.000-08:00

I can't believe Thanksgiving is tomorrow! Where does the time go?!? We are getting ready for a fun weekend, with some of my family coming to celebrate the holiday with us. Kylee and Owen had their last day of school yesterday, before a nice long break for the rest of the week. Kylee's class had an adorable Thanksgiving feast at their school lunchtime, with all 55 kindergarters gathered in one classroom. It was quite a group, and was standing room only for all the parent helpers who came to the feast! I was able to bring Madison into the class on both days this week, so I could help the teachers make the Pilgrim and Indian costumes- it was fun to be back with all the kids! And it was a very special day Tuesday, it made me think of how thankful I am to have such a great place to send my kids to school, and how thankful I am for our life that allows me to be a part of all the wonderful daily activities the kids are experiencing. I hope all of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving with loved ones... and lots of yummy food!

Two Weeks

2008-11-14T10:08:00.000-08:00

Madison is two weeks old and I am happy to say we are survivng life with a newborn again. I hate to jinx it- so I'm crossing my fingers as I type this post- but things are going really, really well. As the kids would say, "Madison is an AWESOME baby." And she is- she has been a nursing champ, poops great, and sleeps contently for long periods of time. I get more visits from the older kids during the night, who are having a week of scary dreams. And since I'm up comforting them, I wake Madison to nurse and change like one time, and then she's back to sleep til I get up to start the daily routine at 5:30. I don't know if it's because it's our third time doing this, or if it's because Madison just ROCKS as a newborn- or maybe it's becuase this is the first time around that we weren't frantically constructing a home to move into while living in a trailer... we had a nice cozy home already made to bring her home to. It really makes a big difference having a place to rock and change a newborn, plus easily accessible laundry is a huge plus. We've been doing cloth diapers this time around, which was fully inspired by my friend Jessey, who is a pro at using and MAKING her own cloth diapers for her three kids. It's going really well, just a little more laundry than usual, and a really GOOD feeling about not creating all that waste and not forking out a ton on the disposable dipes- I had the most satisfying moment as I walked through Target last week and didn't have to pick up one of those huge, expensive boxes of huggies.

We are hoping we'll have another big money-saver this year other than the diapers, Wes has been working on a new project with any spare time he gets. Last winter, the cost of propane was insane- we let the bills pile up and pretty much tackled them by the time summer rolled around. It has been weighing heavily on our minds as the weather is getting colder, and Wes decided we could heat our house more efficiently and cost effectively with a wood stove. We've got access to wood easily, and we are hoping that this will save us this winter as far as bills go, and still keep our newborn and kids warm. So, a few weekends ago, my handy husband got to work on the frame for the stove's "raised up" location in our dining room. The kids have enjoyed having a project to help daddy with... they unloaded every single stone from the trailer and wheel-barrowed them in and layed them out for Daddy and Grandpa- who helped out with the masonry. Lately, Wes has been out splitting wood after work til dark, and Kylee and Owen love stacking it and chatting with Dad about their day. This project has been a great way for the kids to have some special attention from Dad during all the changes at home, and they love making us proud by being "good workers" like Daddy. Here are some pics along the way.

The kids unloading all the stone

Laying out the stone

The frame

The stove is set!

And finally, the kids have really adjusted well to our family of 5. They love their sister, and always want to know where she is, what she's doing, and when she'll be able to play with them. They love showing her off to their friends and teachers... and are doing their best to help mommy- ESPECIALLY with our weekday mornings. Our school routine is the trickiest part of the day. Wes has been starting work a little later some mornings, so he'll drop Kylee off every now and then on his way to work- which is a huge help and gives Kylee a few special minutes with Dad, and mom a few more minutes to get Owen motivated and ready for his day. And this week, our weather has been beautiful, so I've been loading the stroller with my 3 kiddos and walking them- which is also a lot easier than the whole "in and out of car seats" routine. Also, the walking is great for mommy- who has been confusing many kids with my having a baby in the car-seat, and yet still having a tummy. Owen tells them that Madi is the baby that came out of my tummy, and there is now a "boy" baby in my tummy. Kids- gotta love 'em! I'm off to do some sit-ups in hopes for a quicker departure of the belly!

November 4

2008-11-04T21:57:00.001-08:00

November 4, 2003 was an election day, as well. That election day, 5 years ago, we were sitting in the hospital with our newborn baby girl, Kylee. Well, today, Kylee turned 5 and shared in all the excitement of this year's presidential election. When she woke up I said, "Today is your special day, birthday girl!" And she said , "We also vote for President today." She made sure to check in with many of those who called with birthday wishes... to see if they voted and who they voted for. Who knew she'd be so into the political process?!? Here are some pictures from Kylee's day...

Kylee with her #5 pancake

The kids at Kylee's birthday morning breakfast

Great Grandma Joy comes to see the birthday girl, and to meet the new little one that was named after her.
Happy 5th Birthday, Ky- we love you!

Our Baby Story

2008-11-01T12:05:00.000-07:00

I know in my last post, I said I was going to post more frequently, well... since I last sat at this computer A LOT has happened! Since I totally failed to write frequent updates about the arrival of our 3rd baby, I'll backtrack and try to summarize the very EXCITING events of our Halloween 2008.

Thursday, when I last posted, I was having a day of contractions, that tapered off in the afternoon and I figured we were not having a baby that day. I tried to rest because I hadn't slept much the night before, but the kids were excited for the Halloween events that were coming up on Friday... so they tried on their costumes. We headed to Lewiston, which is where most of Wes' family lives, and they did their Trick-or-Treating at the Great Grandmas and Grandma's house.

Here are the pirate, Great Grandma Joy, and Rapunzell the night before Halloween

We stayed at Grandma and Grandpa's for dinner, and I did my usual Thursday night bookkeeping for the Construction company. I noticed my contractions getting more intense, and after talking to the nurse at the hospital, we decided to leave the kids with the grandparents and start on the drive to the hospital. We made it to Red Bluff in just over a 1 and a half hours, trying to drive safely on the newly slick from rain, and foggy mountain roads. When we arrived, it was 10 pm, and the contractions were about 3-5 minutes apart and very painful. I was a bit dissappointed to find out I was only 4 cm dilated and still had a long way to go. Wes' parents drove down the mountain with the kids, his mom came in and joined us, while his dad and the kids slept in the van. Within the first hour there, I quickly progressed to 7 cm, but was beyond exhausted between contractions and eagerly awaited the arrival of Andre, who was called in to give me my epidural. Just before 1:30 am, things got exciting. My parents arrived from Oakland in time to join us in the delivery room, and the nurse called my Dr. in because I was 9 3/4 dilated, and my water still hadn't broke. But I was having constant strong contractions, that were even felt on top of my epidural. My Dr. arrived at 1:35, and after a quick hello, and 2 1/2 short pushes, our newset daughter was born! Madison Joy Scribner entered the world surrounded by loving family at 1:50 am, October 31, 2008. That's right, she's a Halloween baby- weighing in at 8 lbs, 7 oz and 21 inches long!

Mom and Dad take a first look at their sweet little girl

Here she is on the warming bed

With mom

Grandma Linda

Grandma Sue

Kylee meets her new sister for the first time!

Sisters!

Owen is not too excited about waking up at 2:30am to greet the baby!

Madi's first bath with our lovely nurse, Eileen

Daddy swaddles his newest princess after her late night bath.

We are so blessed, she is absolutely healthy- slept wonderfully the first night, is a champion at breastfeeding, passed her hearing test and pediatrician check-up, they cleared us to go home with an early release that day. We had an amazing hospital stay at St. Elizabeth's, we had incredible nurses and pretty much a whole wing to ourselves since there was only 1 other woman admitted that day. Here's a link to the hospital online nursery- where you can catch another glimpse of her if all my pictures aren't enough!
Here are some Halloween daytime pictures at the hospital:

Madison looks super cool in her hearing test headphones

Friend Jen and little Jimmy come up for a visit.

Jimmy wants to scoot Madi around the room in her bassinette.

Heading home with our new baby girl

All ready for the road trip.

We were back on the road by 5 pm on Halloween, and home just as the kids were finishing trick-or-treating on Main Street with Grandma and Auntie Amy. Both sets of Grandparents, Auntie, and Taylor helped make a nice family dinner and get the kids all settled back in with us and our new baby after a very exciting and tiresome 24 hours!

And now there are THREE little munchkins!

Owen was much happier to meet and play with his cute little sister at a more reasonable time of day!

The boy cousins, Owen and Taylor, welcome baby Madison

After a sleepless couple of nights, Mom and Dad are completely exhausted, but glad to be home with a healthy baby girl.

Preg. Update

2008-10-30T06:20:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we had our weekly exam, and I didn't get checked because I was feeling no signs of labor. Also, Owen was with me, and I didn't want him asking all sorts of questions about how, exactly, that Dr was going to get that big baby out of my belly.
Also, we had a very quick check-up because we were rushing back home (1 hr away) for Kylee's last soccer game and pizza party. We didn't want to miss that! At my exam, the nurse who weighs me said- "You lost a pound- that means it's time." And she handed me my appointment card for next week, even though she said I'll most likely have the baby before then. My Dr. set me up to be induced next Thursday, Nov. 6, if we've had no baby by then.
Last night, we had a great time with Kylee's team and family who came to support her. We got the kids in bed, and were in bed by 10:30 ourselves (early for us!) I had a very restless night, woke up about every hour, and stayed up for good at 4am. I wasn't sure if I overdid it on the pizza, or had a return of the stomach bug, or maybe the baby was on her way. I took a shower and have been drinking lots of water, to see if that would make me better. That seemed to slow down and stop all the false labor I've had so far this pregnancy. I've been having mild contractions about every 7-10 min and am thinning. I called the baby counter at our hospital, she said to continue to monitor my contractions- but not to make the trip until I have contractions that are intense enough to make it difficult to walk or talk. Wes is working in town today, so he should be easy to reach in case things progress. I'm off to get the kids up and ready for school... I'm not sure if today is the day, but today sure is off to an exciting start. And regardless of what happens, it looks like within the next week- we will definitely have our new little girl!

UPDATE @ 2pm:
I'll try to post more often now that we're getting closer. I have been having contractions all day, but am convinced it's just another false labor day. Nothing has been crazy unbearable, but definitely different from other days. I'm exhausted from not sleeping last night, I've got the kids back from school and am going to try to convince them to rest in front of a movie with me. I need a little rest to get me through the day, especially if this does turn into full-on labor!

Kylee's B-day Bash

2008-10-27T09:34:00.000-07:00

Kylee's 5th Birthday is a week and a half away, but we decided to throw an early party to celebrate... just in case we are tied up delivering a baby on her actual birthday. It turned out to be a great weekend for the party; weather was warm, it was the opening weekend for High School Musical 3, and our town's Autumn in the Alps fireworks were scheduled for the party night just across the street from our house. We figured, we have to throw a party now... we've got the theme (High School Musical) and the entertainment (Fireworks) already set for us. I let Kylee choose a few friends to invite... all but one family made it- which turned out to be 24 kids and 21 adults. It was a nighttime party, so it was great all the parents stayed to help manage the choas and monitor the younger siblings of the friends. Everyone seemed to have a lot of fun, we just let them play and had one craft that the kids enjoyed. It was a VIP party pass- I felt moved by the movie premier and wanted to go celebrity style up here in Weaverville! It was very cute watching Kylee gather each of her friends to take a photo with in our designated "photo spot," and they all sported little movie star sunglasses. They each decorated a Party Pass and wore them through the night. Here are some pictures from our little girl's big 5th Birthday Bash!

Here are Kylee and Alyssa getting ready for their pass photo at our Photo Spot

My two little party-goers take a picture together

Dad's a little overwhelmed in the craft area!

Daddy did a great job decorating the HSM basketball and star brownies.

A group of the kids at the party, sitting and enjoying the pizza together

Some of the group watching the fireworks in our driveway.

Dad and Grandpa enjoy the show

Kylee tries out her first roller skates from Grammy and Grandpa

My niece is all partied out after the big night!

After a big party, my nephew is ready for one last photo... Kylee is ready for bed!

Quick Update

2008-10-24T13:59:00.000-07:00

For those of you who are checking in every now and then to see if the baby has arrived... nope! I'm still waddling my insanely pregnant belly around with no signs of active labor. I love the last days of pregnancy, where people- both grown-ups and little kids, stare in amazement at the massive growth on my frontside. Yesterday, Owen and I silenced the whole Kindergarten wing of the school as we walked towards the parents waiting to pick up children. One dad spoke up and said, "We are all just in awe..." Nice. I'm here everyday people! My belly is going to just expand until this little girl decides it's time to come out. I know people are just excited, they want to see a baby, and I know everyday they hope they don't see me and that I'll be in the hospital... but I keep telling them, it's going to be awhile, sit back and watch me grow. They ask me how I feel, and I tell them "huge" or "ready to pop," and, to be honest, over the last few days... I'm really starting to feel rather "circus-freakish." I'm trying to not take too much offense to the stares and all that, some days I feel like hiding out at home in comfy clothes, with no worries if my belly isn't completely covered by my huge maternity shirts anymore. But, I want to remain active with the kids schools as much as I can while I can... so I just have to deal with it.

And had I hid out at home today... I would have missed this very proud mommy moment for my little girl: Kylee was honored by her principal as a Student of the Month at their school assembly! She stood out for Outstanding Efforts, Attitude, and Achievement in her Kindergarten classroom.

I didn't get much video... but documented the "moment!"

Kylee looks nervous, but luckily her two good buddies, Ben and Tristan were right beside her the whole time.

Back in the bleachers, I almost catch a smile from my proud little girl!

Kylee had no idea she was going to get an award, and told me afterward that she was really nervous, and was listening to her heart beat really loud the whole time she stood up there. So cute! I don't blame her- I was shocked at the turnout for the assembly. I didn't know there was going to be a full house at 9am. There were parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and friends of those who were being honored, I couldn't even get a parking spot and was standing way in the back trying to get a good picture and documentation for the family who couldn't be there. Next time I'll know to get there super early!

So, that's my "not-so-quick" Quick Update on our baby status/proud mommy moment going into the weekend. Hope everyone has a nice one!

The past week...

2008-10-21T11:22:00.000-07:00

was exhausting! Between a day-long battle with extreme false labor pains last Tuesday, a Dr. check-up, battling my own cold, taking care of sick kids who stayed home from school, field trips at school, two soccer games, baking for Kylee's snack and share day, early morning ballet class for Kylee on Saturday, and me getting a HORRIBLE stomach virus on Sunday... I'm wiped out. Today I'm back in Mommy mode, and had enough energy to help out in the classroom. Now, I've even got a few moments to catch you up on our busy week. Here are a few pics from Owen's walking field trip to the Children's Garden for pumpkins, crafts, some garden harvesting, warm apple cider and fresh pumpkin seeds.

Owen and some of the girls listen to a Pumpkin story

Owen and Sara compare Pumpkins at the craft table

Brian, Natalia, and Owen work on clearing out all the plants who have not made it through the frosty nights.

In pregnancy news, I'm currently not feeling the onset of labor as I was last Tuesday, and last week my Dr. confrimed that I was only 1-2cm dilated and 50% effaced, so I think delivery is still a ways off. I've got a check-up tomorrow, but I don't imagine anything will have changed. I'm planning an early B-Day party for Kylee this weekend, so I'm hoping we are still pregnant and not rushing off to the delivery room during the B-Day bash. And, I also figure the longer this baby stays inside, the better for the baby- we've just been devastated by colds, coughs and stomachaches this school year. Hopefully, we'll be all done with this maddness and healthy in time for bringing home baby.

That's all for now... I'll post more about our weekend projects when I get another free moment!

Tahoe Weekend

2008-10-13T10:01:00.000-07:00

Ross and Suzanne toast with "Ruby" Red wine on their Ruby Anniversary

The group picture at the dinner celebration

Kylee and Uncle Dave enjoy a heated game of Memory

Our family, all dressed up... and the kids all smiles after sitting at dinner for 3.5 hours! They were sooooo well behaved at this fancy restaraunt.

Mom and her little girl, and baby girl-to-be!

We had a great visit with family for my parents 40th Anniversary. It was freezing cold with snow flurries most of the weekend. We had a family run/walk Saturday morning, and a nice coffee shop breakfast. The kids loved spending time with their Grandparents, Uncles and Auntie Devon, and were SO well behaved- it amazed us! We had no kid activities planned, and they didn't really mind, they just loved hanging out and playing with the family they don't get to see as much. Seeing as Owen was getting over a cold, and I was feeling very pregnant- we ended up hanging out at our motel 6 for a restful Saturday afternoon. Wes worked on some drafting, and I even got a nap! It was nice to finally have some down time, especially since I had a bunch of contractions on the drive up Friday night, and I wanted rest, so as to insure we'd get through the weekend and back home before the baby decided to make an early appearance. In the back of all of our minds was a prediction of and "early arrival" from a fellow soccer mom a few weeks ago. I don't even know this mom's name, but she ran up to me at one of Kylee's games and said, "You're going to think this is weird, but I had a dream about your baby!" She told me she's never wrong about these things and her dream told her that the baby is coming early and I'm not going to be ready. It totally freaked me out! My friend who was sitting with me said, "How early are we talking?" And she said "Two weeks." Great. Should I even try to be ready if her dream already said I'm not going to be? What does this mean? I told her my kids don't come early, but I went home I decided I should probably do my best to BE ready, just in case. I got to work packing mine & Wes' overnight bag, the kids extra clothing and activity bags, and the new baby's diaper bag. I have the car seat all washed up, and everything has been sitting in the corner of my closest since the "prediction." As we traveled 5 hours away from our house, just about two weeks before my due date, I thought "Ahhhh! I am all ready if I go into labor at home! What if it happens this weekend? Then the soccer mom is right, I am soooooo not ready... everything I packed is there!" So, luckily, the baby hung in there for the whole trip, and now we are back home and all ready to hit the road anytime, if neccessary. Except... the hospital is 1.5 hours away, and Wes is working 1 hour away from me today. I'm ready to go, but transportation wise... not so much. Hang in there a a little longer, Baby Scribner! We can make it til due date!

40 Years Ago...

2008-10-10T08:45:00.001-07:00

my parents got married! This Sunday is this milestone in their lives, and we'll be traveling to Lake Tahoe today to spend the weekend with them and a few of my brothers. Tahoe was a favorite camping spot for my family every year, and though we won't by camping (the weather is calling for SNOW!) we'll be able to enjoy time together honoring my wonderful parents. Here's to 40 years of wedded bliss, we love you, mom and dad!

Good Day

2008-10-08T13:57:00.000-07:00

OK, so last night I started to write a post about my awful day- then I decided writing about it was kinda making me relive it- so I just went to bed frustrated and feeling like a terrible mom. Long story short, Owen and I have been butting heads a lot more than usual lately, and it culminated in a blow-up at preschool. He threw a nasty fit, shoes across the room, kicking and punching my belly... the works. The worst part was that it tested my disclipline skills (or lack there of) in front of all the heads of our Human Resource dept. It just sucked, it lingered with me all day as we butted heads at soccer practice and throughout the evening, and I went to bed thinking, "Am I ready to try and care for another child when I can't even handle the one I've got?"

I woke up this morning, took a deep breath, ready to tackle another day of the "Torturous Three's." (Whoever said the twos were terrible, clearly had never met a child like Owen. The threes are way worse.) Owen had a better morning, no major mishaps at school... so I left there with a little bit of self confidence regained. We met Wes at Kylee's school for our first ever Parent/Teacher Conference. It was actually really cool. I have been more than impressed with everything about Kylee's school, and her teacher. It's been a very positive experience, and the conference just reaffirmed that. He walked us through the grading process for the upcoming report cards, he talked about holiday fun events that are approaching, informed us about parent activities we may want to be involved in, and gave info about the stages of learning in Kindergarten. He more than reassured me that Kylee is doing wonderfully in school, as he knows we have worried about her starting Kindergarten young and falling behind with all the new testing standards. He honestly said that when she told him she was four, he said "no way" outloud and thought she was mixed up with her numbers. He said she was just one he didn't worry about... she is absolutely excelling in Kindergarten. I have heard so many parents say they would never start their kids at four, and I worry so much about her struggling because she was born in November and we chose to make her young in class, rather than old. Her teacher said, it comes down to just looking at the person, not the month they were born, not even whether they are boys or girls. He talked from a parent's perspective, too, because his son just turned 5 today- and he and is wife are both teachers and have many friends who told him the same thing. Especially about boys, who are supposed to mature much more slowly. Well, he looked at his son and knew he was socially and academically ready and would be absolutely bored if he were to wait it out another year. I didn't know his son was a four-year-old, fall baby, too, and I was so reassured by that! We talked about Kylee's shyness, and he has all these cool approaches to bringing the quiet ones out of their shells. He has this neat "stand up comedy" approach he told us about, where by the end of the year, he's had super shy kids getting in front of the whole class everyday and telling age appropriate jokes to roaring praises by their peers. It sounds frightening to me, I never could conquer my fear of being in front of an audience- but he told us that he and Kylee have already started talking about it, and she was really enthusiastic about the idea. I really don't worry too much about her, because I've seen her with her class, and they all absolutely adore her. I'm sure they'll just love her jokes, and I'd love to see her gain that confidence!

We left the classroom feeling a bit more like better parents. Kylee is doing well now, but she went through a bad temper stage, as well. I don't remember it lasting so long... but she threw some awesome public tantrems in her day. Hmmmm... I remember the worse ones being when I was pregnant with Owen and trying to get through shopping trips with my sanity. Maybe it has some correlation to Mommy being pregnant and not able to handle the stress of it! Who knows! We do know Owen is struggling with MAJOR temper issues right now, and we are doing are best working with his teachers on disclipline techniques to better handle it now. Maybe, just maybe, by the time he's in Kindergarten, our work will have paid off. Or, maybe not-he could just be that kid who needs a good whooping and spends a lot of time in the principal's office.

Anyhow, today was better, and for that, I am thankful.

Here's a photo I forgot to post, but seems fitting now. Kylee was her class's first star student two weeks ago- way to go, Ky!

<-------Check Out the New Poll

2008-09-30T10:38:00.000-07:00

We've hit the 1 month to go mark, so I figure I better get a poll going to see what people are thinking about our new baby's arrival. Here's what our pregnancies and birth weights/dates looked like with the first two- just to help you decide.

Kylee:
First Due Date: October 15, 2003
Second Due Date: November 2, 2003
Mommy weight gained: 25 lbs
Kylee's arrival: November 4, 2003
Kylee's weight: 6 lbs, 14 oz

Owen:
Due Date: September 13, 2005
Mommy weight gained: 30 lbs
Owen's arrival: September 22, 2005
Owen's weight: 9 lbs, 1oz

This pregnancy stats:
-So far, I've gained 24 lbs.
-I am borderline gestational diabetes, which was the same with Owen, but not Kylee. Sometimes gestational diabetes = larger babies.
-I'm carrying a GIRL, so maybe, just maybe, she'll be a little more on the petite side at birth, just like her sister.
-I'm measuring right on track for a Oct. 30 baby, but have seen ultrasound due dates ranging from Oct. 27- November 2.
-Everyone who sees me these days thinks I'm huge and have dropped, but I think the baby still has time to grow. She just doesn't feel like she's taking up as much space as Owen did, but maybe she's just found a more comfy place to hang out.
Hope all this info helps!

So take some time to vote for your prediction on our newest addition!

Weekend at Home

2008-09-29T15:04:00.000-07:00

As the kids get older, we are realizing that their busy schedules are going to start to dictate what we will be doing on weekends. Whereas, up until now, we only had to juggle our two busy schedules when making plans to go visit my family in the Bay Area or old friends who are far away. I'm happy that the kids are involved in the many activities our community has to offer, but a bit "unsettled" about the fact that I'm fully commited to being fully involved in life here for years to come. I always love being able to take off and be with my family in the Bay Area for random special occasions, or to just see them when I'm a little homesick for good ol' Oakland life. Now that Kylee has ballet on Saturdays and other sports events will start to fill up our weekend travel in the future... I realize that I'm just going to have to get used to being here and saving the travel for breaks from school and sports seasons (like normal people, I guess!)

"Where in the hell is Weaverville." That's what I read on a license plate frame on Main Street, where I sat with the kids on Friday while we watched the Homecoming Parade roll through town. We are definitely off the beaten path, and I found it kind of amusing to sit there among so many people going about their busy day- and to think this is supposed to be the middle of nowhere? Luckily, our "middle of nowhere" status hasn't scared away many of the people who know us, and still make the 4+ hour trek to come visit. I was so happy to have my good friend, Jen, come up with her little one, Jimmy, for a good part of last week. We had a blast being SAHMs together, getting the school kids to school, working in naps, reading, playtime, even a lunch out, and soccer practice. The kids had so much fun together, and Owen was literally a mess when we let him know Jen and Jimmy had to go back home. He got over it when we told him about all the fun we had planned for the weekend... beginning with a Soccer Jamboree on Saturday, leading to the kids having a sleepover at Grandma's! They were so excited to be free of parents for the first time in too long, and Wes and I had big plans to finally get some work done around the house, and maybe even go out to dinner to make up for our non-existant anniversary date. Despite coming down with colds the kids have been fighting, we got SO much yard and housework done. We put on "non-sick" faces and went out to dinner on Saturday (though, who knows what it tasted like! We were out by ourselves, and that was worth paying for a nice dinner!) We watched a movie that was rated R when we got home, it was full of violence and action and we didn't have to worry about kids hearing it! It was a very nice treat. Thanks so much Grandma and Grandpa!

Sunday morning we got up early despite our sore, sniffling noses and got back into crazy, high speed work mode... because Grandma was bringing the kids back by 1:30 for the start of Owen's 3rd Birthday Party! We worked non-stop on party prep, and even added on extra to-do's, like "drain hot tub and soak filter." This particular add on turned out to be a to-do I should have saved for a less busy time. Because, I, apparently, am not great at doing too many things at once anymore... and I happened to flood the laundry portion of my just-cleaned-house when I left the hot tub filter filling to soak in the laundry sink while I went to the store. Awesome! Instead of a nice, clean house to play in... our hallway looked like the kids could do some slip-n-sliding for a fun-filled indoor party game. By chance, my friend Shannon, wrote the party time down for an hour early, so she dropped her kids off to play while she went and got her carpet shampooer. Shannon was a HUGE help, spending a half hour or so sucking water out of our carpets! Even after this minor set-back, the party turned out to be a lot of fun. And after the crazy fun weekend of activity at home, I'm happy to do what it takes to fully commit to being a "Weaverville Mom." Our life here is so blessed, and though we may have to go a little longer between fun, out-of-town excursions, we'll still make the trips when we can. For now, I'm just going to focus on enjoying the beginnings of my kids active lives... I have a feeling it's going to get SO MUCH CRAZIER when these guys hit high school.

Baby Jimmy comes back from the huddle during Kylee's soccer game.

Kylee runs off the field during her Jamboree, and is all smiles cause it's the parents quarter to play in the game!

Kylee and Tesla cheer for their dads as they rock the soccer field!

Team photo... Go Sharks!

Mom does some safari animal face painting for Owen's B-Day party

The kids loved their Elephant party craft, and Natalie even skipped out on the cake so she could continue to work on hers

The kids with Owen's Tiger cake

Brian and Owen show off their new trunks.

Owen's 3rd Birthday

2008-09-22T21:35:00.000-07:00

Our little guy is growing so fast! I can't believe he turned 3 today! He has been telling everyone for weeks that his birthday is "September Twenty-two," and he woke up so happy to have his big day arrive. We were down near Yosemite for a wedding this weekend, so we did not have his party yet... but we still managed to work in some fun today amidst the laundry and unpacking. A birthday bash is scheduled for Sunday... until then, here are some pictures from his party at preschool and after dinner with the family. Happy Birthday, Owen- we love you, little man :)

Little Ballerina

2008-09-17T14:14:00.000-07:00

Kylee had her first ballet recital last night. She and a few of her soccer teammates had to cut out of soccer practice early, to get home and transition in to ballet mode. This totally reminded me of my childhood, where I had to juggle my love for dancing with my passion for sports. Now, my daughter is going down the same path, and it is so exciting to watch her enjoy participating in so many different activities. Watching her giggle with and race around the field with her friends, then switch gears and blossom into a dancer was so fun!

Here are some pictures and video of Kylee all dolled up with hair and makeup and all... and dancing on the big stage at the performing arts center.

Relay for Life

2008-09-15T10:28:00.000-07:00

We had our annual Relay for Life this weekend! We spent 24+ hours at Weaverville Elementary School, setting up, coordinating, and walking at the event. It is always such an emotional gathering, with cancer survivors of all ages walking among us- and loved ones lost to cancer in all of our hearts. We enjoyed spending time with great friends in our community, all with the same goal... keeping your team on the track through all hours because cancer never sleeps. Kylee and Owen had fun playing all day with their cousins and school friends, and had no trouble falling asleep in our tent, despite all the excitement of the night at Relay! I slept some in the tent, but mainly just rested in the warmth of our blankets... because our temps at Relay went from over 100 degrees in the afternoon, to 44 degrees in the middle of the night! Wes was a trooper and stayed awake for every second of Relay, and maintained entertainment and equipment through the day and night. We are all pretty sleepy today, but are proud of what we accomplished. Our small town was able to raise over $70,000, which we are very happy about considering it's such a tough time economically for so many people. Our team was second overall in fundraising, with over $11,000, and I was able to raise the most funds online- thanks to all my wonderful supporters! Thank you all for donating, and just keeping us and all those who walk to find a cure in your hearts!

My niece, Brynn, Kylee and Owen listen some entertainment at Relay

Our Team gets ready to take our first trip around the track.

Our theme this year was "Kicking Cancer out of our Life", it's a football theme, thought up by my 7-year-old nephew, Shawn- who came up with it for his Grandpa who is battling brain cancer. His Papa Steve walked with our team for the second straight year, and we are so proud of him and his strength in this battle!

Happy 70th Dad!

2008-09-12T09:15:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is my Dad's 70th Birthday! We are all tied up with our Relay for Life event this weekend, so I just wanted to do a quick "shout out" post to my awesome Dad. He is a great example to all of his six kids about leading a good life, taking care of family, and working hard. My kids adore their Grandpa, who always makes them laugh and takes extra time to do the little things with them, like play on the piano, playing outside, walking the dogs, and just chatting about all the goings-on of their busy little lives.
My dad my mom are amazing, as they stay busy in retirement volunteering at the Red Cross and the Oakland Parks and Rec, taking piano and other courses at the local JC, traveling, kayaking, and running marathons. We thought we'd add to his busy schedule, by getting him a new bar for his backyard patio- so now he can perfect his already amazing bartending skills!
We love you, Dad! Here are a few pictures from his surprise Birthday celebration in Oakland last weekend:

Checking out the Bar

Mom and Dad get ready to order some drinks!

A group shot of the family at a nice Birthday Dinner out.

More of the group!

Dad's ladies: Mom, daughter, and 1st Grandaughter

Love ya, Babe.

2008-09-09T11:42:00.000-07:00

Eight years ago today, I got to marry my best friend! Time sure has flown by, and each day keeps getting better and better. I'm so lucky to be married to such a devoted husband, loving and goofy father, and all around amazing human being. We're opting out of dinner out, as I'm going to the soccer game and Wes is donating his time at the pool and for Relay for Life logistics tonight- see what I mean, he's amazing! Thank you for 8 loving years- love ya, babe.

Moms are Amazing

2008-09-08T09:32:00.000-07:00

I remember the first thing I thought after going through Labor and Delivery of Kylee was... "I can't believe how amazing Mom's are!" Giving birth was so extremely painful, yet completely rewarding, I was more than grateflul to both my mom and Wes' mom when they came into the delivery room to meet Kylee. I instantly felt a bond with all moms, and I told my moms "Thank You" for going through all that pain to bring me and Wes and our siblings into the world. I also have been learning over the years, that as my kids get older and I get "tested" with new "mommy predicaments," that delivering a baby is just the beginning of a lifetime of moments where I will say "How did our moms do this?!?"

As we are getting into the swing of the school year, I can't believe how busy life has become now that both kids are in school, five mornings a week. I thought I'd be sitting home everyday, folding and laundering baby clothes and cloth diapers, and cleaning house as I nest and prepare for the new baby. Well, all that nesting stuff will have to wait- life is INSANELY crazy at the moment. I'm in Kylee's classroom at least 2 mornings a week- I love helping out while I have the chance, and it's just a constant reminder how much FUN Kindergarten is! I can't get enough of that place, and her teacher is doing an outstanding job teaching the little ones. Not to mention, I'm getting to know all three of the Kinder classes pretty well, and learning a lot about the kids who will be Kylee's peers for the next 12 years. I also have been trying to spend extra time staying on top of my work as an office manager for Wes' dad. And, all of our spare time has been planning, advertising, and fundraising for our big Relay for Life event this weekend. I have prenatal appointments every-other Wednesday morning now. We crammed a trip to Oakland in this past weekend, so all the busy-ness of travel, packing and unpacking, getting back into the school routine is consuming my current morning. Last week we had our first week of soccer practices mixed in with a busy back-to-school night and our usual weekly payroll evening. Between preparing for Kylee's first Soccer Game tomorrow and first Ballet Recital next Tuesday- I find myself wondering, how do mom's do this!?! I absolutely love the challenge of making my days run smoothly... here is my current attempt at keeping our school days organized:

This laminatd schedule has been awesome- the kids and I made it- and since they are not readers, they decided on what pictures we should take for each thing we do during the day. We adjust the schedule a bit when when have a game or practice, but have been doing great about keeping to our checklist- they love checking things off, and wiping the slate clean for a whole new day of fun the next morning!

So, until our lives get completely switched around again by baby #3, it's been fun "pretending" I have some sort of control of the maddness that is our daily life! And to all the mom's out there who are working at home or at work... just pat yourselves on the backs, and take some time today to remember that you are awesome!

Here are some pictures from last week's soccer practice followed immediately by dinner and back-to-school night.

Kylee and some of her U6 team get ready to scrimmage

Owen and Reef practice their sideline kicks

Kylee and her teacher, Mr. Sprague

All of Kylee's class- they really are such a great bunch of kids.

Making Room for Baby

2008-08-25T11:09:00.000-07:00

We've hit the 30 weeks pregnant mark- which, for most people, means they've got about 7-10 weeks to go until a new baby arrives. For me, I figure I've got about 11-12 weeks until our lives are blessed with a 3rd child, because my babies always seem to love the womb and like to make their appearance when they are beyond fully "cooked." Kylee was born between 40-41 weeks gestation, and Owen was just about 42 weeks gestation. It's always hard to wait in those last few days, and it's always funny to hear people say pregnancies are 9 months long, when mine are more like 10 to 10 1/2... but I've been lucky to have good, healthy babies- so I have no complaints. I would be very surprised if I did have this baby early... so, we've got some time to get things ready. But, then I looked at our calendar and realized we've got most of our weekends crammed with trips, events, the kids birthdays, and anniversaries all the way through October, so we might as well start getting a few things set now. Plus, I figure having a new baby is going to be a big adjustment for Kylee and Owen, so we might as well set the house up for baby NOW, and that'll be one less thing to throw them into some sort of regression when the baby does arrive.

We are doubling the girls up in Kylee's room, so we needed some extra space. Wes made Kylee's bed into a bunk this weekend and she loves it! We're shopping around for a used dresser that can double as a changing table, and we'll get the crib set up in the empty space soon. Here are some pictures of the 1st stage of the girls room makeover:

Kylee's bed before being "lofted."

Her new set up- this will be "Kylee's side of the room."

Kylee's toys are marking the spots where the new girl will have her crib and dresser.

The kids are loving climbing on Ky's new bed- and are really excited about the changes so far! We'll just keep introducing them to these new changes, little by little, and hopefully all the build up will make them super excited for a newborn in the house in November:)

Time Flies

2008-08-18T10:40:00.000-07:00

This morning went extremely well. Owen woke up first, at 6 am, and was very excited to go to school. I was a bit nervous about him, he's a young preschooler, and never spent any time away from home- but he woke up ready, so I was reassured that he'd do great. His school outfit was all set out, and he was excited to get dressed right away, all by himself. He ate a quick breakfast with Daddy while I took a shower, and when I got out, at 6:35, he was standing there with his backpack on. I told him it was still early, and we had to hang out for a while and help Kylee get ready for Kindergarten. Kylee woke up on her own just then, and got dressed right away. We did her hair and chatted about what to pack for lunch. Owen helped Kylee and I make a sandwich and handed us fruit and carrots from the fridge. Kylee ate breakfast, and we talked about what to expect at school today. Kylee's class is huge- there were over 50 kindergarteners signed up to start at Weaverville Elementary, so they had to create 3 grade Ks, rather than the normal 2 classes. We got a phone call last night that there was a last minute teacher change, and a very nice man named Mr. Sprague was calling all of his kids saying he'd be their new teacher. Kylee was excited to meet him, and see who her classmates were going to be. So, we all brushed our teeth, and before we knew it, it was just before 8 and time to head out. Kylee kept asking if Daddy was going to be able to see her new school, and if he could take her- and Daddy's little girl melted his heart, so he checked in with his dad to see if he could have a late start at work to see the kids off. First stop, Kylee's classroom. I was a bit overwhelmed at this big new school, with a packed parking lot, and parents and kids rushing everywhere- and couldn't imagine what Kylee was thinking. But, we were warmly welcomed at the door by Mr. Sprague, who was great with the kids. Kylee had three boys from her preschool already inside playing, so she adapted very quickly. We hung out for a few minutes after our hugs and kisses goodbye, and when we were done watching from the hall, we blew kisses goodbye. She looked so grown up and ready for school! Here is my baby girl... on her first day of life and her first day of Kindergarten.

Kylee Marie Scribner Novemeber 4, 2003

Kylee's 1st day of Kindergarten

She's now a Weaverville Wildcat!

She found her seat and nametag right away.

Next, we walked outside the school yard to the new home of Alps View Preschool (Kylee's school last year.) They moved to the W.E.S campus, with the same great teacher and a much bigger classroom. Our friend, Shannon, just got hired on as a new aide there, and her son, Brian, is a buddy of Owen's, and starting school there, as well. Owen and Brian walked to their preschool together like big kids- it was the cutest thing ever! Shannon and I were talking and we wanted to find out about the head teacher, Teacher Susan, who had been airlifted out this weekend. She had a heart attack while setting up for school on Friday. We were so worried about her, she is very healthy and only in her 50's, and hoped she was ok. We never told Owen she might not be there, because he loves her, and we were just hoping he would get comfortable with things without her, and when she was better, she would be an extra special treat at school. Well, we were shocked to walk in and see Teacher Susan getting things set up this morning! She was released from the hospital on Saturday, and advised to not do anything stressful. We weren't sure if preschool would be the best place for her- but she said she couldn't miss the first day, she loves the kids, and they bring her peace. I felt so happy that she is ok, and that someone so wonderful is caring for my little boy when he's away from me. Owen and Brian had a blast playing with Teacher Susan soon after we got there, they checked out the boys bathroom together, and were playing so well together. Wes and I looked at each other and said, "He's gonna do great here!" We said our goodbyes, there were no tears- nothing but excited preschoolers. I got all teary-eyed on the walk back. It hit me how big my kids have gotten, how independent they are, and how much time I've spent with them. It was SO quite when I walked into the house- it was nice, but I needed some music to keep my spirits up. Don't get me wrong, I am excited for my kids, and this chance I have for some alone time for the first time in so many years... and to get things all ready in the house for Baby #3... but still a mommy who is amazed at how fast time has passed by.

Here are Owen's 1st Day of Life and 1st Day of Preschool Pictures

Owen Lawrence Scribner, September 22, 2003

Brian and Owen head to school

The walk to Alps View for W.E.S

They have side-by-side cubbies

All grown up and saying goodbye to mommy

The Last Weekend of Summer Break

2008-08-17T21:46:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it, but my kids are all snuggled in their beds getting plenty of sleep for their first day of school tomorrow. I'm feeling a bit emotional knowing that my two little ones are growing so quickly and are now school age... but I'll save all that talk for tomorrow. Let's focus on what an awesome time we had this weekend! I decided that we had to do something fun for our last days of summer, and when I found out Wes didn't have to work- we put the plan in action for some family time. Luckily, we don't have to travel far to experience "the great outdoors," so Saturday morning we drove 7 miles up the highway to one of many great campgrounds on Trinity River. We dropped off all of our camping gear, then headed a bit further up the river and met with Wes' mom, nephew, and brother's family. We all loaded into rafts and floated down to the campground- which took about 3 hours. The kids loved it! Once we got there, Wes taught the kids how to fish, and we all played in the sand until dinner. Wes' dad and sister joined the party for dinner at the campground, which turned out great for being a spontaneous trip. Most of us camped out there- which was fun, until I remembered that I am seven months pregnant and have to use the restroom at least 3 times a night. I wish I would've put our tent a bit closer to the bathrooms! But, we had a nice full moon, and I made some super-fast late night darts through the campground to get to the restroom PRONTO- not just because of my small bladder- but also my RIDICULOUS fear of bumping into a bear. Needless to say, I survived the night and we were awakened at 5:30 to RAIN! It was startling, since we had no cover on our tent, but really exciting, too- all I could think was, the rain will put our wildfires out! Unfortunately, it didn't last long, but it gave me a little hope that rainy season is coming and these fires just won't be able to burn once the rains are here. So, we started our Sunday early, and really couldn't muster up much energy for a lot of recreating today. We made a yummy breakfast, played a little at the campground, cleaned up, packed up, and headed out to a nice swimming hole up the road. The kids played on a rope swing, and we relaxed on the beach and picked blackberries. We were all ready for a nap by early afternoon, so we said our goodbyes and headed home- which was only 10 minutes away! I can't believe we had a family getaway vacation just down the road from our home, no road trip issues, no worry about gas prices... just good- inexpensive- fun in our own backyard.

Small community, big heart

2008-08-10T23:49:00.000-07:00

Last week was filled will our usual busy days, along with some out-of-the-ordinary events. The helicopter crash that we heard about on our fire lines Tuesday, turned out to be devastating- 9 of the men on board died in the crash. This story crushed us- the hundreds of firefighters that our still camping out 8 miles away have been honored heros amongst us for almost 2 months. To hear of MORE losses was unthinkable- and such a terrible tragedy. The smoke slowly drifted back in earlier this week, and serves as a constant reminder of the lives lost fighting these never-ending fires in our mountains. Along with the smoke, came the press. Our little town's Veteran's Hall was cleared out by Wednesday morning, as town officials were told to make room for the news stations. CNN was first to arrive, followed by the masses of news vans with their big satellite dishes on top. I heard a reporter from ABC end her piece by asking, "Should we be sending our firefighters out to fight fires in areas where there are no people?" And I thought, "Wait- I'm here, my family is here, my community is here!" We may not be A LOT of people, but we are good people- and we are thankful for all the sacrifices these firefighters have been making all summer for us. The media added a new aspect of "strange" to this summer's events- Weaverville is usually just a quaint, historic little mountain town- full of tourists looking for quiet getaways in the summer. This year it's just been a smokey town with few visitors, tons of firetrucks along the highways, a constant rumble of helicopters flying above, and now media vans. A very different town, but still a great town.

Despite the tragic events, we continued on with our plans to make the most of the last days of summer. We got together with friends and cousins for playdates, and found a great new swimming hole in Junction City- just past where our huge fire camp is located. I even had a friend come over one morning to help manage my little ones, since I was forced to have a 3 hour Glucose Tolerance test after my 28 week glucose screen revealed a very high sugar count. Luckily, I am able to manage my sugar levels with diet and testing my sugar count with a glucometer, and I won't have to manage it with insulin. But, it took me a few days to get over myself having to cut MORE fun things .... sweets, carbs, juices... out of my diet. I keep running through the list of my "pregnancy no-no's" telling myself, "Yes, it's difficult to live without caffine, wine, chocolate, bread, pasta, ice cold lemonade, ice cold beer, lunch meat, soft cheeses, chocolate, and did I mention, CHOCOLATE!- but, my sweet little girl will be worth it in the end." If anyone can offer tips about what else there is in the world to eat in the mean time, I'm all ears. But I digress... back to the good community stuff!

And finally, the weekend proved to be another great example of the strong community that lives in these far-away mountains. Saturday was busy from the start- as our town came out in full force to help Wes and his Dad's crew lay block on our pool project. They have been putting in so many volunteer hours this summer trying to help get our community an awesome new pool, and it was great to see so many town's people come out, eager to pitch in, as well. It was also the last day of our original pool- they will be draining it and filling it in in the coming days. Since I'm a useless preggo lady, when it comes to laying block foundations, I decided to bring the kids and my nephew, Taylor, down for one last swim. We had a great time playing in the pool before heading out to Lewiston for part 2 of our busy weekend. We had a Relay for Life fundraiser BBQ planned, and our team was hosting it. We have an amazing team, who really put so much time into the planning and executing of the BBQ and live auction, and it was an extraordinary success! We are hoping it raised cancer awareness, and that it will promote a great turnout at our community's Relay for Life next month.

That's the week in review... and, of course, here are some pictures.

Swimming with our friends at Canyon Creek

Ian and Kylee jump off the rock

Out with the old pool, in with the new

Jump in

Kylee and Taylor

Back Home!

2008-08-06T07:31:00.000-07:00

We had a blast in Oakland, and I had a great plan for driving home with the kids on Sunday. We attended my good friend Kari's Bridal Shower at her old swim club, and it was the perfect place to completely drain my kids energy! I left the pool at 4:10, and the kids slept until after 6. Whoo hoo! We got home with minimal stops, and even had a late dinner with Daddy- who had smoked some salmon in honor of our homecoming.

Since we've been back, we've been busy- the kids had their dental check ups, back to school shopping, and are scheduled for all sorts of play dates OUTSIDE! That's right, the smoke seems to have found somewhere else to hang out, and we've been enjoying beautiful sunny days. We have less than two weeks of summer left, and I'm trying to cram as much fun into it as possible, since the wildfires took away pretty much all of it. We're thinking they are going to start to move towards actually putting the fires out, people in the community are really starting to stand up and say, "Enough with the burning!" An 18 year old died two weeks ago on his first day working on our fire, and last night we heard a military helicopter crash at the fire camp- 15 people were on board and our little community doesn't have enough ambulances to deal with that many casualties at once. So, hopefully all those injured in the crash will be ok, and we'll hear about 100% containment sooner than expected.

Summer Break in Oakland

2008-07-29T23:39:00.001-07:00

I packed up the kids and headed to Oakland on Friday afternoon. We had a lot of stops on the drive... for potty breaks and for a sleepy mommy who needed to wake herself up on boring I-5. But I made it to Oakland safely and with two very excited kids. We had a fun weekend, filled with tons of Franco-family time. My parents had a big landscaping project planned, which turned out to be a great way for the family to get together and hang out- while working towards a better yard for them! My brother Dave was up from LA, and my brothers Tom, Paul and Pete have all been stopping by to chip in and help out where they can. It's been great to spend time with my brothers- and for the kids to get some special time with this side of the family. Not to mention- the weather couldn't be better! We've been enjoying the cool foggy mornings (my poor, "smoke scarred" kids keep asking if it's ok to be out because it looks "smokey!" Owen even tried to keep Grandma's windows closed the first night, he didn't want to let the smoke in!) And beautiful sunny afternoons. Between working out in the yard, we've been walking, playing in parks, spent a day at the zoo, and an evening at the A's game. Owen is a bit homesick, and asks for his Daddy a lot, but he is still having a great time doing fun things we don't get to do everyday. Kylee is enjoying being silly with her Uncles, especially singing with Uncle Dave and chanting A's cheers with Uncle Paulie and Uncle Tom. Both kids truly love the morning routine with the grandparents, including running and the coffee shop! Here are a few pictures from our excursions so far this week.

The kids say goodbye to Uncle Dave before he heads out.

Fire-Truck ride at the zoo

Airplane ride

Walking around to see all the animals

The elephants were a favortie

The kids were very intrigued by the alligators

Zebras are pretty cool, like Kylee :)

The kids enjoy their big bag of kettle corn at the game

Our group loves the night game, even though we didn't win :(

Another group shot- notice: Paulie lets me hold his beer so I can feel like a part of the party!

34 Days

2008-07-23T16:19:00.000-07:00

I really hate to whine on my blog, but today, I feel the need. Lighting lit forests in our county on fire 34 DAYS ago, and 190,000+ acres later, we are still only 65% contained. I'm not going to complain about the efforts of the firefighters- they are working like crazy in the heat and smoke, and they really haven't lost any major structures with all the acres burned. They have become a staple of our community for the past 5 weeks. There are trucks from all over the state, and other western states constantly cruising through our town or hanging out in our parking lots. We got to know one nice strike crew from Arizona who hung out in the park with us one day. They gave the kids stickers and chatted about all the crazy fire we are having... a good attitude for dealing with it for so long, so far from home. But, IT'S RIDICULOUS here! It's unlike any fire season we've ever seen. Kylee's elementary school, across the street from us, continues to be both a Red Cross Shelter and a place for fire crews to rest during the day. My friends are teachers at the school, and with school scheduled to start in mid-August, they are a bit frustrated with not being allowed inside to prep for the year. There are still new mandatory evacuations almost everyday, and some of the families being evacuated are doing it for the 3rd and 4th time. It is beyond frustrating for these families, who are constantly wondering why this is happening AGAIN- and getting very little info.

The hardest part of everyday life is, without a doubt, the smoke. There are all these visibilty and air quality guides for us to follow. The guide says the air can be: healthy, moderate, unhealthy, very unhealthy, and hazardous. They basically say that even in the "moderate level" children, elderly, and people with respiratory or heart conditions, should limit outdoor activity and just stay indoors. That if you can see or smell smoke, stay inside. We have been in the very unhealthy range since June, and this week we just entered the hazardous range. We have less than 1/2 mile visibility, sometimes much worse. Some evenings we sit and watch the ash fall from the sky, like we watched the snowflakes in the winter. We all still go out in it, Wes is in construction, and they have long hours in the summer- and he still has to work, and we still have to pay our bills, regardless of how smokey it is. We really don't know what damage is being done to our lungs, we just keep hoping that one day we will breathe clean air again. It's just frustrating to know that all the other fires in the state have reached containment, and we are still sitting in this nasty smoke. We keep hearing how this is "healthy" for our forests, that this kind of burning is natural and good in the long run. I'm sure it is, but what good is 190,000+ acres of healthy forest, when the thousands of people who live around it and take care of it, are all dying off from these toxins. I know that is so drastic, but seriously, I don't know what breathing "hazardous" air is doing to my family- but it can't be good.

They aren't thinking our fires will reach containment until mid-August, so we are looking at dealing with this situation for more weeks to come. I'm tired of wondering if I should let my kids jump on the trampoline or run around for a couple of hours to burn off some energy outside, this is their summer break! We should be outside all day! My mom convinced me to come enjoy a week of fresh, breezy air in Oakland, so I'll take off with the kids tomorrow. I feel lucky to have a place to go to get a break, and feel awful for my community who can't leave, and have to sit and endure it. Let's hope they decide that enough is enough- and find a way to just put the fires out, for gosh sakes!

Somedays, we can't even see the sun- today it's coming through just a bit!

Here's our smokey house today, I used to be able to see the backdrop of mountains from this view of our house.

Super Fun/Busy Weekend in Pictures

2008-07-21T09:32:00.000-07:00

Last Day of Swim Lessons

Owen Graduates to Level 2 after doing his "Face-Down Airplane float" by himself for 5 seconds!

Hanging out with the twins at a Weaverville Birthday Party- Kylee holds twin sister Claire...

Owen holds his favorite baby, with whom he shares a name, twin brother Owen!

The kids get some swim time at the water hole

Saturday, we traveled to Granite Bay (east of Sacramento) for our good friend, Jimmy's 1st Birthday Party!

Jimmy's checking out his cool baseball Birthday Cake

We got to do a 3D/4D Ultrasound of our new baby at a great place in Roseville, and found out FOR SURE- that we're having a new baby GIRL!

We visited our new 2nd Cousin, Jacob, in West Sacramento

And got back to Trinity County for Kylee to get her EARS PIERCED by Grandma! Here she is trying to pick her favorite earrings.

The Family gets her ready for the piercing

She was so excited for earrings, she didn't even make a peep! No tears, nothing but smiles!

Cheers to Kylee's new bling!

We love our pool!

2008-07-15T14:24:00.000-07:00

We are finishing up our 4th week of swim lessons, and are sad it's ending. Lowden Park Pool is right across the street at our community park, and we have been enjoying swim lessons there every summer since Kylee was 8 months old. This was the first year that I didn't get in and swim with my kids in a Parent/Tot class- they were spoiled with AMAZING coaches who taught them in small group settings. Kylee passed Level 1 the first session and is doing great at Level 2, while Owen is still the youngest little guy out there, enjoying all the attention from Coach Heidi in Level 1. They are getting to be very comfortable in the water- floating, dunking under, and jumping in is no big deal! Kylee is even pushing off the wall and gliding to her teach for short distances, we're hoping to keep coming for open swim, so they can continue to practice their skills.

Wes found out they have a kayaking roll class on Thursday nights, so he's been enjoying some free time to perfect his kayaking skills- without having to drive to the lake or river.

This summer we have gotten so attached to our pool. Not only our we enjoying all the recreation it has to offer, but a lot of the community is getting involved in making it a better/safer place to swim. LAPP has been raising funds for years to build a new aquatic center, and last week they broke ground on the project! They didn't get all the funds to complete all the phases of the project, but they have enough to get started, and many local contractors and crew, led by Scribner Construction, are donating labor on the weekends to get closer to our goal! You can read more about this exciting project here and even donate if you feel moved by the cause. Our family feels especially close to the pool, as all of the old exterior walls, asphalt, and dirt were excavated last weekend and brought to our front yard by the truckloads. Wes turned it into an extra large driveway, and now we can forever feel connected to the history of the Lowden Park Pool!

Here are some fun pool pictures to enjoy!

Our first session- Kylee and Owen sit poolside (notice the old wall in the background)

They love having their own private lessons with Coach Heidi

One of the piles of the demolished wall in our driveway.

Practicing kicking (notice the missing wall + excavation of new pool in the background!)

Owen hangs out with his class

Dunking under is fun!

Coach Quintin catches Kylee after her backwards "streamline"

Kylee's Cannonball!

Fourth of July

2008-07-07T08:15:00.000-07:00

We had a great weekend, which we kicked of on Thursday night in Weaverville. We met some friends at the park for train rides, "carnival food," and played until dark. The next morning, we had a big trip planned. Weaverville has an awesome, small-town 4th celebration, but we had planned early in the year to go with the whole extended Scribner clan to Fort Bragg to celebrate in the town where Wes and I lived the 1st year of our marriage. It's about a 5 hour trip with no stops- it's beautiful, but filled with long, winding roads. Because of the winding terrain, Wes, his brother, and his dad wanted to make the long trek on their motorcycles. So, Friday morning, they headed out on a sport bike adventure, and all the moms and kids piled into cars and headed out, as well. The kids did good, considering they were strapped into carseats for most of the day- they were great about taking advantage of all potty breaks, and kept the whining to a minimum. Saturday we enjoyed time at Glass Beach, The World's Largest Salmon BBQ in Noyo Harbor, and their Fireworks festivities- which were a bit hard to see through the thick fog that had rolled in. But, since all the fireworks in our part of the state had been cancelled due to fire, we were happy we got to see any! Sunday, we had a big breakfast together celebrating my nephew, Taylor's 4th Birthday, visited the skunk train depot, and hit the road for our journey home. It was a jam-packed weekend, but was fun to spend some time with the whole family in our old hang-outs, AND away from this darn wildfire smoke! Both the motorcycle riders and the minivan travelers made it home safely, and with our sanity :) We hope everyone had a Happy 4th of July!

We'll miss our town's festivities... but love saying goodbye to this smoke!

My kids on top of the rock they climbed at Glass Beach

Finding a sea star in the tide pool

The cousins with the Fisherman Tribute at Noyo Harbor

Getting ready for the foggy Fireworks!

Owen get's Daddy to cover his ears, just in case it's too loud :)

One of the big one's

Kylee and Owen hope the guys will take them home on the sport bikes

Taylor's 4th Birthday!

All the Car/Minivan travelers pose for a shot at the Skunk Train Depot before the drive home.

It's a....

2008-07-02T22:04:00.000-07:00

girl... maybe. Or it could be a boy. Our sonogram tech couldn't get a clear shot... she said she's leaning towards a girl, but don't go painting any rooms pink and we should probably have another sonogram to check again. Stay tuned in coming weeks, we'll let you all know when we get a more positive answer on the big gender question.

Getting Kinda Scary...

2008-06-26T13:42:00.000-07:00

We've been getting more and more smoke every day... with almost no idea of exactly where all the smoke is coming from. We keep hearing about new fires popping up, jumping highways, and now some of them are starting to force mandatory evacuations. Our sonogram technician was just forced to race home to try to save a few of her animals because the fire is now 1 mile from her home. So, we won't be seeing the first pictures of our baby today... but we hope she can get home and back out safely. Resources are seriously limited, and the fires are really starting to rage out of control. Many of them are joining together, and with this heavy smoke everywhere- they have had aircraft grounded and are fighting with what they can on the ground. We don't feel like we are in immediate danger here, because they have an evacuation center set up at the school across the street- but are definitely checking in with friends frequently to try to stay on top of fire activity. Hope you are all staying indoors where you are... because I hear most of Northern Ca is dealing with terrible fires and smoke, like us.

Smoked-in

2008-06-25T08:41:00.000-07:00

There are over 153 wildfires burning in our beautiful Shasta-Trinity forests right now. This is a picture of our front yard, usually you can see trees and mountains in the background where the smoke is. It gets even worse in the afternoons, and we've been forced to stay indoors. We have been getting our swimming lessons done in the mornings, when the air quality is better- so at least we can burn off some of our stir craziness there!

Catching Up

2008-06-23T21:41:00.000-07:00

Again, it's been ages between posts, and of course we've been crazy busy. I finally have a chance to sit down and tell the blog world "We're still here!" and I don't even know where to begin. After a jam-packed week and a half, we headed down to the bay area to be with family. Typically a drive to the bay area (without children) takes 3.5 to 4 hours. Friday, ours took 12. This was self-induced, we had to replace our brakes in Redding, then detoured to Sacramento to pick up some river rafts Wes found on Craig's List for cheap, then headed to Oakland. After arriving at my parents at 11:30 pm, Kylee woke up and had a HUGE smile on her face. She knew that the premier of Disney Channel's "Camp Rock" had happened while we were on the road- and was eager to start watching it. Wes and I were blown away, Kylee never likes to miss out on sleep, and she was wide awake, ready to rock out with the Jonas Brothers at midnight. So, since she had been an awesome traveler, we turned on the movie (that she had previously convinced Uncle Paulie to go over and pre-record for her!) and we settled in on the couch, thinking she'd be back to sleep in no time. Nope! The girl has officially changed from a 4-year-old to a tween overnight- I sat with her until 2 am as she danced around and sang the songs with her new favorite boy band.

While we were fending off 100 degree heat in OAKLAND that night... we called home and found out that a crazy spontanious lighting storm had struck and started literally hundreds of wildfires in Trinity and Shasta Counties. We were bummed to hear the news, but knew our home was safe, and continued on with our weekend as planned.

We had a birthday celebration for my brother at the A's game, which was great fun for the whole family. Wes worked in a business meeting with a couple he is drawing house plans for. My parents and I took the kids to Lake Merritt for some excercise and time in the park, followed by a trip to the favorite coffee shop. We went to Stanford to see our little buddy, Drew, on Sunday- who is such an amazing little trooper after being in the hospital for more than a month.

Drew's visit, and a visit with my godparents are two major reasons I am glad we take the time and effort to travel- even though it always has difficult and stressful moments. On Saturday, we had a very special visit with my Godparents. They mean the world to me, are some of my parents closest, lifelong friends, and have always been a guiding force in my life. My Godfather has suffered with MS for many years, and it recently took a turn for the worse. I'll never forget Saturday, it was a hot, yet very peaceful day in their home. I could hear our kids playing under a huge shady tree in their yard, enjoying the company of my parents and godmother. Wes and I stood with this very dear father-figure, and said a very difficult goodbye. We didn't know when we'd be down again, and didn't know how much time he had, so we said what we could between tears. I knew he knew we were there, because he responded to our voices and talk about the kids and my parents. It was something I'll never forget. Sunday night, on our drive home, we watched the smoke roll in on the whole trip up the valley. We couldn't even see the sunset with all the smoke from all the wildfires in Northern California. I thought alot about my Godfather, and nature being so powerful, and how little control we have of things in our world. We arrived home after midnight to a smokey house, and I got the call first thing this morning that my Godfather had passed away during the night. All day long, I've been in a sleep deprived, smoke-filled, daze. I miss my godfather, and have been crying for my godmother, but I am glad that- although nature decides when these things take place- I was able to be there in time to have our final moment together.

I'll post some cute pictures from the past two weeks when I get a chance- for now I'm off to bed.

City Girl: 0, Nature: 2

2008-06-12T10:47:00.000-07:00

Last spring we put a lot of sweat, tears, and dollars into adding concrete,landscaping, and other nice outdoor accents to our home. This year, we've been enjoying it as we watched our new trees make it through the heavy snow, blossom, and fill out. We set out our patio furniture back in March, and have been enjoying the fruits of our hard work on many warm evenings already- while we sit out, relax and eat dinner. My hatred for squirrels began in March, when I caught one of the ugly little rodents completely tearing into the top of one of my chairs. Apparently, he couldn't find enough warm material in nature to build a sufficient nest in our trees. So, he decided to take our brand new, wal-mart special, dining set chair cushions apart. I was enraged! But, over the months, after many failed attempts with a BB gun to rid ourselves of the problem, I have been dealing with it and thinking about beginning to make repairs as soon as I knew they were done gathering their nesting material. Well, yesterday afternoon, as I sat on my lopsided, no head-rest chair watching the kids play, I noticed my chair stuffing hanging from the trees in various spots. How nice. The squirrels are hot now, no need for the added insulation. They're just throwing it back at me. Mocking me.

As I was observing this, thinking, "I guess I can get started on repairing the chairs..." Wes stopped by on his way to another job. He popped his head out the back door and kind of grimaced and said, "What happened out front?" I said, "We haven't been out there today, what's going on?" He said, "Oh- the kids didn't run into the tree?" I said- "I saw the deer family out there earlier- but that's it." So, we all headed out front to see that, not only did the deer completely shred all the leaves off our beautiful fruitless plum, but- just to add insult to injury, went ahead and ripped the tree in two. There it lay, lifeless. All I could think was, "Man, Wes needs to get back into hunting."

Here was our tree last summer, all happy behind the boys as they got back from their ride. This year- it was thriving- even fuller after the harsh winter! I never even got a picture of it :(

Poor, sad tree.

First Lake Day

2008-06-09T16:04:00.000-07:00

We had our "first lake day" of the season last night, and it was wonderful! We left after dinner, and since the lake is terribly low this year- we drove down one of the boat launches and 4-wheeled on what would normally be WATER, but is currently flat dirt and rocks. We drove to the edge of the low lake, and set up a great spot to watch Dad get to know his new boat. The kids loved playing in the dirt, and in the water, all the while cheering "Flip Over, Daddy!" I took 100 pictures of them kayaking, finding tadpoles and a snake, and all sorts of fun in the mud. Here are just a few!

Grandparents Rock!

2008-06-08T10:00:00.000-07:00

We just had an awesome visit from my parents- who were here for Kylee's graduation and a few days after. I always love having them here, we stay busy playing with the kids and dogs, running, hitting coffe shops, and we even headed up to the lake. My dad decided to get rolling on some yard work while he was here, so we got the whole family involved with mowing, and trimming the lawn- which I usually do solo. Thanks so much for all the help and the good times, mom and dad!

They left Saturday morning, and Wes and I were heading to Arcata on the coast to look at some Whitewater playboats he'd found on craigs list. Wes' mom graciously offered to take the kids for the day- and even had them stay the night Friday so we could just get up and go. What a treat! We had a beautiful 2 hour drive along the Trinity River, with a lovely stop at our new favorite coffee "oasis," Strawhouse Coffee, for some delicious coffee, bagel sandwiches, and a breathtaking riverside view. Wes is getting into river kayaking with some of our local buddies- it is a bit EXTREME for my taste- but I was happy to help him shop for great deals on a sport kayaks. Heck, the Trinity River is practically in our backyard, and people come from all over the west coast to play on this river- so I'm glad to see Wes getting into such a fun new sport. He's now got all the basics- most importantly the helmet and vest for safety- and is planning on getting out on the lake ASAP to practice rolls and all sorts of tricks before he hits the river.

Here are some pictures from our visit with my mom and dad, and, of course- Wes showing off his new gear! A big THANKS to Wes' parents for taking care of the kids-we had a great day, and I know the kids did, too.

Preschool Graduation

2008-06-05T22:10:00.000-07:00

We've been busy enjoying the last few days of school and the first day of summer break! Kylee graduated from preschool last night, and we were lucky to have a big group of family with us to share in this big day. Kylee did great, she was beaming with pride the whole time, and loved joining her class in singing all of her school songs. I am so proud of Kylee and all the leaps and bounds she made this year, with overcoming her shyness and showing the world the side of her we get to see everyday. I couldn't help but showcase some of her school work on a banner and in a writing portfolio for the family to see when we partied at our house afterwards. Here are all the fun pictures from Alps View Preschool Graduation- with the kids who are moving on to Kindergarten sporting their super-fly grad capes. Enjoy!

Family

2008-05-25T19:05:00.000-07:00

We were lucky to have many loved ones come to town for Memorial weekend visits. Wes' Aunt, Uncle and Cousin from Colorado came to Lewiston for a wonderful stay from the end of the week through today. His cousin from Texas brought her children to Cali for a visit, and she drove up with her mom, sister, and two nieces for a great visit today. In between all the family get-togethers, we had an awesome playdate with our friends from Sacramento this morning. It was such a busy weekend, and we had a blast catching up with everyone. Now we are looking forward to a kick-back movie night with Dad (who has been working with the crew to complete some pressing jobs while we've been hanging out!) Ah- just writing about the busy-ness is making me want to crawl into bed! Here are a couple of family pictures.

Wes' Mom's side of the family

The Great-Grandchildren on Wes' Dad's side of the family

Wes is 30!

2008-05-21T22:41:00.000-07:00

The kids and I had an awesome day planning all sorts of fun surprises for Dad- starting with an early breakfast before Dad left at 7, and ending with a dinner that included many of Dad's favorite foods. Oh- and a HUGE chocolate chip cookie we made from his Grandma Joys famous cookie recipe, his all-time favorite :) Happy 3-0, Wes, we love you so much!

The Circus and the Weekend

2008-05-19T14:02:00.001-07:00

Friday's Circus performance was so much fun! The whole class had adorable little acts planned, from animals rolling through flaming hoops to strong-man competitions, and even a trick/stunt tricycle rider! Many of the kids came up with their own ideas for costumes and acts, and many talked to the teachers for ideas. Apparently Kylee's best friends really wanted to be ribbon dancers, and her teachers were proud to see Kylee say she had her own idea, a cheerleader FOR the ribbon dancers. They said it was a very independent decision for our shy little Kylee! She made up a cute cheer and practiced it for 2 whole nights. When it came time for their act on circus day, Kylee stood in front of a HUGE gathering of parents, grandparents, and friends- and learned about a little something called stage frieght :) She stood there frozen, and I could tell she just wanted to bury herself behind those pom-poms! I totally felt for her, as I have never been comfortable in front of large groups of people. I cheered for the girls and after her act I gave her a huge hug, and we talked about stage frieght. She seemed happy to know there is a name for this condition that overcame her! Here are a few pictures from the Circus:

The last photo from the weekend is of my kids with my Mother's Day fire pit!We were able to have our first campfire with s'mores in the backyard. It sure does feel like summer is upon us!

Kindergarten Roundup

2008-05-15T16:24:00.000-07:00

The end of Kylee's 1st year of school is approaching... and the past two weeks have been very exciting for her. The BIG school bus came and took all the Kindergarten bound kids up to the elementary school and they spent the day shadowing this year's Kinders. They even ate lunch in the BIG cafeteria and got a sense of what it will be like next year. This past Tuesday (since Mom was down with the flu) Daddy took charge and brought Kylee to Kindergarten roundup, where she signed up, got her vaccines, met the two K teachers, and they got to know her one-on-one. I had her last parent-teacher conference at school today- where her current teacher let me know that although she is a November baby (she'll be one of the young ones in class- 4 years old in August when they start...) she's very bright and should have no trouble academically. Socially- she's shy, and so was I, so that'll be something we'll have to work on no matter when she starts school. She gave Kylee all sorts of goodies and learning materials to work with all summer, and her big-kid back pack. Tomorrow is her class' circus performance and the next three weeks will be filled with fun until Graduation night on June 4th!

MIA

2008-05-14T10:38:00.000-07:00

It has been a busy 2 weeks, and it's been hard to slow down and blog about it. There are HUNDREDS off pictures to show for it... some of the quick highlights were a special visit from Auntie Sunita, followed by a trip to LA for a good friend's surprise Wedding, we spent Mother's Day on the Beach with my brother, Dave, and then hit Disneyland. We have been battling an evil Flu bug, as well- yesterday was my turn to get sick, and I couldn't even come close to the computer because it was too far away from the bathroom. I'm feeling better now, and am trying to catch up on all the laundry that has piled up from all the sickness and the traveling. Here are some of the pictures from our awesome trip to Los Angeles!

Paint Your Town Purple!

2008-05-01T10:16:00.000-07:00

Hey Everybody- be sure to wear your purple today! Today is The American Cancer Society's annual Relay for Life "Paint Your Town Purple" Day. It's a day to honor cancer survivors, and bring about cancer prevention awareness. Our town is asking business' to decorate it's windows in Purple, and we are Kicking Off our Relay for Life season tonight at our town's bandstand! So, do what you can to support those who are fighting this fight, and look into what you can do to be a part of Relay for Life in your town. Here are some shots of us this morning in our purple, and getting ready to walk to school with our Relay balloons.

A Whole Lotta Shaking

2008-04-30T08:13:00.000-07:00

I'm starting to feel like the earthquakes are following me. When we were in Tahoe this weekend, we all thought we were going crazy when we felt the couch moving while we were hanging out. And then, last night, I was listening to a telemarketer talk my ear off when my kitchen table started shaking and creaking. I stepped away from it, and it continued to creak, and the windows made some popping sounds. I decided I was crazy, two times in four days in completely different Mountain Ranges- that doesn't happen. Well, it did- 4.0 in Tahoe, 5.2 in Trinity. Nothing major- but enough to make me think, if things are starting to shake where we are- where earthquakes RARELY happen, maybe we should all start thinking about earthquake kits and all that. Man, I haven't thought seriously about an Earthquake since the bay area's one in '89, and now I have kids to "teach" about them. What's the rule these days, do we still "duck and cover." Are doorways still the safest place? Hmmmm... I'm sure Kylee will learn the new age safe stuff at preschool today, and then she can teach me :)

Tahoe Weekend

2008-04-28T09:34:00.001-07:00

This year Wes and I are both turning 30, and so are many of our good friends from college. So, we all decided to to something extra special- to forget about gifts for one another, and instead take a little time away from our busy lives and have a getaway weekend together. We all decided to find babysitters for the kids, petsitters for the pets, and rented a "not-so-Executive house" in Lake Tahoe for an "adults only" great time! Wes and I drove on a back route- through Lassen County to Susanville, and entered Tahoe on the Nevada side. It was an incredibly beautiful drive... and was 6 hours of piece and quite, enjoying the comedy channel, grown up music, and great conversation. We had a blast with the group, as well. We had made great meals at the house, an exciting hike on The Rim trail, and then, of course, a highly competitve tournament involving the house's fooz ball, pool, air hockey, ping pong, pocker chips and a scavenger hunt. Though the house itself turned out to be a little less-desirable than we imagined, we had so much fun there that we vetoed going out on the town to continue hanging out enjoying each other's company. The weekend went by fast, and we'll never forget all the fun we packed into it. Thanks everyone for taking the time out to make it so special- and a big, HUGE Thank You to Wes' family, especially Grandma, for taking such great care of Kylee and Owen while we were away! They can't stop talking about all the fun they had! Here are some pics from Tahoe...

Numero Tres

2008-04-24T10:10:00.000-07:00

I'm writing this post listening to "Go, Diego, Go!," and it's inspiring me to use my spanish numbers today. So, here it is, for those of you who know and have yet to find out- here's my BIG post about our new baby on the way! That's right, numero tres. I found out just over 2 months ago... and kept the secret from the kids for eight hours while we waited for Dad to get home from work. While we waited, they helped me make cookies and a card!

The whole time, the kids thought the big surprise was the cookies- they had no idea what the cookies said.

After we finished eating all the cookies, we told the kids- even though it was still VERY early. Kylee was beyond excited, Owen said "Yay!" and continued to play with his tractor. We were going out that night, so we knew we had to tell Wes' family- pretty much because if I'm not drinking when we go to a bar- they know I must be pregnant. When we got to Grandma and Grandpa's house, Kylee blurted it out right away to the babysitters, their mom, and everyone! So, the secret was immediately out. We knew she was excited, and thought it was cute how she told them. But, we knew that we'd have to do a little bit of talking before she headed to school on Monday and told her all friends- which would mean the whole town would know! We let her put a sticker on her calendar for everyday she could go to school and keep our secret- at the end she would get a present. It totally worked! We gave her the ok to tell her class last week, and she excitedly told them. Her teachers we amazed a preschooler kept such a big secret for 2 months!

I'm happy to be done with my first trimester, though I can't complain because I was lucky again, minimal nausea, and discomfort! The only setback was EXTREME EXHAUSTION. I'm hoping to have much more energy in the next couple of weeks. So, that's our news- we are very excited, and are getting used to the idea that we'll be a family of 5 this November. We believe the due date will be November 2- just two days before Kylee's 5th Birthday! And big sis is more than happy to have a new baby for a birthday gift... she's just really hoping it'll be a girl this time around!

Picnic Day Weekend

2008-04-22T10:28:00.000-07:00

We had a great weekend! We visited UC Davis for our annual Picnic Day on Saturday. It was great to see my old teammates and roomate, and have our kids hang out. It was a beautiful day, and we loved sharing our college with the kids. We only stayed for morning activities, then moved on quickly to West Sacramento for my cousin's baby shower. Katie and Jimmy are waiting for the arrival of their first baby, and it was awesome to be with their friends and family as we celebrate this new bundle of joy! Next, we stayed the night with my friend, Jen, and got to enjoy time with her family... especially her 9 month old, Jimmy, as he is getting big so fast!

Check out our slide show from our great weekend with great loved ones!

Hot Days

2008-04-14T10:40:00.000-07:00

Here are some photos from our "fun in the sun" weekend. We had an all-day playdate with our friends, the Bradfords- while Dad went to their house and helped their dad do some electrical wiring. Then, we went to a really fun bonfire bbq by the creek at the Novak's House. (Forgot the camera for this one, so no pics.) Today we were so sure it'd be hot again, that I planned a walk to pick up Kylee followed by a day in the park... but the CRAZY windstorm made it a bit unbearable and we cut the park short. So- it's not quite summer yet, but it was nice to get a taste of it this weekend!

Sad Day for this former Torch Bearer

2008-04-09T16:05:00.000-07:00

Not the Torch Relay Photo I was hoping to see! This is in SF. Unbelievable.

Like most people, I am a huge fan of the Olympic spirit, I love how the world comes together every four years to celebrate athletic accomplishment, the blending of cultures, and all that. I was especially excited as a senior in High School- when I was nominated by our very large inner-city's FOOTBALL coach (no, I did not even play football...) to be a torch bearer for the Summer Games of 1996. I traveled with my mom, dad, lil bro, and good friend from our home in Oakland that morning, to my track meet in Sacramento that afternoon, then to Redding, CA for my big torch moment at 1 am! It was a small town, I didn't know anybody but the few that traveled with me- but the spirit of the Olympics was so strong, I will never forget all the cheers from hundreds of wonderful strangers who surrounded me as I ran through the crowd, up the stairs of the train, and lit the huge cauldron as it dropped down. We all waved good-bye as the train headed south to it's next destination, and we were all unified in that moment, in the middle of that hot night in May.

I have been watching with anticipation as the big torch relay has been set to take place in San Francisco today. I was in Oakland, just across the Bay, this weekend- and since Kylee is on spring break, I thought how great it would be to stay in town for a few more days and show my kids this history that I had been lucky to be a part of. But, for the safety of my family, I didn't give it a second thought. Back home, we don't have live coverage of what has been taking place in San Fran today. Through some web video, and my mom in the Bay, I've heard that thankfully, things have been relatively peaceful. The SF police and Olympic officials didn't want to take any chances after what had happened with protesters at Paris and London's relay's this year, and stealthfully changed the course of the torch at the last minute. This was the smartest choice to keep the peace, but I can't imagine how dissapointed the thousands of on-lookers must have been. I just can't help but think about those torch bearers, who just are good people who wanted to be a part of Olympic history- and how their own families couldn't even get a snapshot of them because of the circumstances of these Olympic Games. My Olympic experience seems like a make-believe fairytale compared to what these runners and Olympic supporters experienced today. I don't feel like much time has gone by since I carried the flame, but I sure do feel like we live in a whole different world. I hope one day I'll be able to share the joys of the Olympic spirit with my children, today- that is just not the case.

If I was TWO I'd totally be napping right now...

2008-04-03T15:36:00.000-07:00

Besides coughing, sneezing, LONG nights and exhausting days- not much has been going on since Easter. Having sick kids is no joke. Everytime one of my kids get sick, I know the other will follow, and I start prepping for the days and weeks of extra tears, extra tissue boxes, extra whines, extra kids in my bed, extra bolts to the toilet with the gagging child... and I think "I can't believe my mom did this with 6 of us." It must have been MONTHS out of commission trying to nurse children back to health and get everyone back to school and our normal activities. So, for me, a tough part about the whole "sick" issue, is knowing when I should allow my kids to be around their friends. I'm no Doctor, so judging whether or not they are healthy enough to join society is tough. I know they just have colds, but I don't want to spread the sickness, so I keep them home. But, I don't like Kylee missing too much school, because I think her preschool is very important for her development. And, when I do take them to the Doctor- I ALWAYS feel stupid because they ALWAYS say, "It's a cold, we can't give 'em anything, it'll run it's course." Great. Thanks. I love spending lots of money to have you give me NOTHING.

Another major contributor to my funky mood is the fact that Owen won't nap. Owen has always been my sleeping champion- he plays hard, and he crashes. Now we just have play hard, sick, cranky Owen, WHO WON'T SLEEP. I am totally blaming the Easter Bunny for his nap rebellion... because, if you were here Owen would tell you, "The Bunny stole all the Binky's." That's right, Owen has spent the past 12 days since Easter without a Binky (Pacifier, Paci, Fafi, Nuk... whatever you like to call them). Somehow, all the Binky's mysteriously got lost on Easter, and we just told him that the Bunny must have collected them and brought them to the babies who need them. It SEEMED like a relatively good story- though, we have yet to see if he will hold this against the bunny as future Easters approach. And, while I am proud that he has been surviving without this lifelong crutch of his, I REALLY, REALLY JUST WANT TO GIVE HIM ONE SO HE'LL REST FOR GOSH SAKES. Wes is happy, he's all for the cold turkey method- but I miss the good old days where I could hand him a binky and a blankie and lay him on his bed for a rest. He'd generally fall right to sleep. Now, he's like a crazed maniac, just tossing and turning and screeching until he comes bolting out of his room running wildly through the house. I lay him back down, lay with him and read another story, and he gets more and more wound up. After hours of this, I give up, he wins, and we've missed another nap. Come 8 pm, we start the bedtime routine, he's been up for 14 hours straight- and it is the SAME battle at bedtime. He eventually breaks down and passes out, but only after sneaking down and getting Daddy out of his office and convincing him to "Peas, lie down with me?" Which, at that point, I am totally fine with because now Mommy can rest, too.

I apologize for the ranting in this post- I definitely feel for the kiddos and wish I could take all the sickness away from them. But usually by this point in their colds, I feel like my only role in life is to be a human snot rag and I feel the only line coming out of my mouth is "Cover you cough." Oh yeah, and, "Go back to bed."

Blogging about the Weather

2008-03-28T09:42:00.000-07:00

So, yesterday I was outside in my spring attire mowing our lawn in the sunshine. Today I just dropped Kylee of at school in her "Friday, Gardening Day" clothing- and there are snowflakes falling outside. Gotta love the crazy weather- I just hope we get something that sticks because Owen's been begging to make a snowman ever since our snow storm over a month ago. Hope everyone is enjoying their spring- or not-so-spring like weather in your part of the world!

It was one jam-packed Holy Week!

2008-03-24T09:44:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday night we kicked off our busy week by throwing a big viewing party to celebrate Owen's TV debut on AFV. It was fun to have friends and family around to share in our little guy's 5 seconds of fame!

Monday was St. Patty's day, and the kids and I headed off to Kylee's school all dressed in green. We were surprised to find Leprechaun's had visited the classroom- they left a trail of gold dust and footprints everywhere. It was very cute. Owen and I went home, only to get a call 30 minutes later that Kylee wasn't feeling well. We picked her up and she looked a little green herself- so we headed right home (which is about a 3 minute drive.) However, she didn't make it all the way home- as we were heading up our hill she was vomiting all over herself. I felt terrible watching her strapped in to her carseat, she couldn't even lean forward and her upper body was just covered. I am not great with dealing with vomit- as soon as I stopped the car, I was digging through the chunks to get the poor little girl out of her 5 point harness- and was totally dry-heaving myself. I stripped her down in the driveway and ran her to the shower, and ran back outside to get Owen (who was sitting quietly locked in his seat out of vomit range, and told me- a bit tramatized- "Kylee's really, really sick.") We spent the morning taking care of Ky and hosing out all the fatalites in the car. As she got better, she told my she thinks she ate nuts at breakfast snack at school. So, I called the school , and found out that they had mixed a bit of homemade granola into the regular granola that said "no nuts" on the box- and that the mix had a few almonds in it. Kylee has had a few reactions to certain nuts in her life, so we stay away from them- and we kinda hope that she will just grow out of this allergy. Monday we found out she still has a nut allergy.

We got back into our routine the rest of the week with school and gymnastics and playdates. Thursday I turned the big 3-0, and my wonderful husband and kids treated me to a great day! Wes let me sleep in, and I woke up to Kylee bringing me Starbucks... a kitchen full of balloons and a delicious breakfast. That afternoon they all worked together and made me a beautiful cake- and Wes made a delicious dinner. It was a very special birthday!

Friday began the weekend activities. At school, Kylee's class was treated to a interactive performance by a drummer/lead singer in a popular local band. The kids (and mommy!) loved it! My parents came to town and we made them smoked salmon for our Good Friday dinner. Saturday we went on a family bike ride, dyed eggs with Owen's friends in the park, and went to dinner with both my parents and Wes' parents down in Redding. When we got home, the kids got ready for bed and set out treats for the Easter Bunny that they thought he would like. Kylee dictated a noted for me to write, and they headed off to bed. In the morning, we woke up to hear Kylee slamming our door open, saying "The Easter Bunny ate his snacks, and left a note!!!!" That started a very exciting morning hunting eggs in the house with my parents, church for some, and then a big family lunch and egg hunt with Wes' family, as well. We all had a very exciting Easter week, and are looking forward to relaxing a bit this week!

Kids helping kids

2008-03-13T09:39:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was a big day for Kylee! She has been planning on cutting her hair for a while, and we measured it and realized it was long enough to donate to the American Cancer Society to help make wigs for kids. Kylee was very happy at the idea that she is going to help a child with cancer feel better with a new wig. We weren't sure if she'd be ok after she found out HOW short grandma was going to cut it, but grandma showed her- and Kylee was completely excited. She held on tight to a picture of a girl who might get a new wig because of Kylee's donation, and felt great the whole time. Grandma cut off Kylee's ponytail at just over 10 inches, and we all love her new hair cut, especially because it helps out the sweet children who battle cancer. Kylee says she's going to grow it for two more years so she can donate her really long hair again! Here are some before and after pictures...

Tune In

2008-03-07T16:25:00.001-08:00

We got a call the other day from the people at America's Funniest Videos... and they said though the funny little clip we submitted did not make it as a finalist, it will be appearing on their show airing March 16, 2008! So, check your local listings, set your TiVo's and DVR's, and remember to watch the new episode of AFV to catch a glimpse of the family on the big screen :)

Race Day in Redding

2008-03-02T20:05:00.000-08:00

We started off March with a bang- and ran in our Annual John Frank Memorial Race in Redding with my parents, and Wes' mom. We even pushed our kids and nephew, Taylor, in jogging strollers for the 3 mile race- which was great! Wes and I took turns alternating between single and double joggers, and just had fun having the kids experience the race with us. Next year, we'll get down early enough for the kids to compete in the 1 mile race- they are getting really excited to be a part of this event each year. Linda did great in her race, she smoked her time from last year! My mom and dad were as amazing as always- not only do they do great in the 10 mile race, but this year they had the energy to drive the hour back to our house with our kids, and their dogs. Then they played outside with them, soaked in the hot tub with them-while fending off MANY attempts of their German Shepard to join them in the tub.... AND watched the kids at bedtime so Wes and I could catch a late night movie. I don't know how they do it- thanks so much, mom and dad! They headed back to Oakland on Sunday, and they are already missed- we all had such a great time. Here are some pictures from the weekend.

All set to start the race

Wes with the kids at the finish

The kids get some playtime

Hanging with the group and the dogs at the finish

Grandpa teaches Kylee to chuck-it for Beau

LATE NIGHT

2008-02-23T15:40:00.000-08:00

Wes and I went out last night with his whole family- we'll the GROWN-UPS in the family, that is. We left the cousins at grandma's house with two teenage sisters who are family friends, and wonderful to the kids. We had a great night down in Redding- a delicious dinner, watched an awesome live performance by HAPA, and even hung out at a night club til midnight. We thought WE were the party animals- but little did we know- Owen was the last kid standing, and was having a blast having two cute girls all to himself. The kid was happy as could be, not a bit sleepy- just hanging out, eating popcorn like a big boy, chatting with the girls when we arrived at 1 am! 1 AM! We all couldn't help but laugh, he was obviously smitten and sleep was not of any interest to him. We thought the 30 min drive home would knock him out- but nope, he just chatted away. Obviously, this late night had to be documented.
So, here is our little party animal- fifteen minutes before he crashed for the night.

Family

2008-02-21T11:19:00.001-08:00

For Kylee's president's week off, I decided to take the kids on on road trip. We knew we'd miss daddy- but thought it'd be good to give him a few days to get some of his office work done in peace and quiet. On our trip, we packed our days with fun in while visiting my brother and sis in Mountain House, and then my family in Oakland. This was the first trip where I felt like my kids are all grown up. Instead of a stroller, I brought a trike and scooter. Instead of diaper changes, we stopped at rest areas for potty breaks for the whole family. The kids are movie zombies, so driving for 4-5 hours straight was a breeze- they just took turns picking movies the whole way! Even though we had some rain- Auntie had the great idea to take the kids ice skating- they've never been, and both did SUPER adapting to the ice. When the sun was out, so were we- walking and playing at playgrounds. I definitely want to take advantage of future school breaks and take more trips like this. It's great for the kids to get some city exposure, and even better for us all to get some extra quality time with the family. Love you guys, thanks for a great time!

Happy Valentine's Day

2008-02-14T13:35:00.000-08:00

Wishing you all a day full of love! Here are some pictures from Valentines Day 2008.

Working hard on her "Bee" Valentine's.

Kylee and Owen help load the car with Valentines for the kids and roses for the teachers.

Kylee is ready to head home from school with her bag of loot!

IC DAVIS!

2008-02-13T10:31:00.000-08:00

Kid's say the darndest things...
So, I was getting the kids dressed this morning and they both put on their UC Davis socks. I was so proud of my little future Aggies- and I did the whole "Go Aggies" cheer. They were very excited, and repeated "Goooooo Aggies!" Then I said "Whoooo UC Davis!" And they changed it to "Whooooo I see Davis!" (Well, Kylee changed it, and Owen repeated after Kylee.) So cute.

Stronger

2008-02-11T12:22:00.000-08:00

I caught the tail-end of Owen's groovin' to the live performances from the Grammy's last night. He was so inspired by Kanye West, that he got up from his chicken nugget lunch to show me his moves.

Little Mommy

2008-02-10T08:09:00.000-08:00

My good friend, Jen, just visited for a couple of days and we had a great time hanging out and entertaining the little ones. Kylee was absolutely in her element as soon as she saw Baby Jimmy. She was determined to be the best little helper EVER- and had a blast playing mommy. She went to bed with a smile on her face the first night, and said "I just love that baby so much!" She was crushed when they drove away last night, but this picture has been helping her with her "heart that hurts so much" cause he's gone. Ahhhh, young love.

Super Snowy Weekend

2008-02-04T10:48:00.000-08:00

The week ended with two snow days from school, our town got dumped on with snow! And we loved it... snowboarding and nighttime sledding in our backyard, our biggest snowman EVER, and we, luckily, never lost power so we could still watch the very exciting ending to the super bowl. (And we really only did watch the last quarter... we were too busy sledding in the dark while daddy cleared the driveway, so we could drive our cars this morning.)

Congrats to John and Nicola!

2008-01-31T05:46:00.000-08:00

I woke up this morning at 5:15, as my brother called from Germany to spread word that he's a Daddy! Nicola had a C-Section, and John was by her side as their daughter arrived in this world at 3:46 am, PST. Joline wieghed in at 2.910 kg, which we think is 6 lbs 6 oz- a very healthy size for being two weeks early! She is 19.7 inches long.

John is such a proud Daddy, and was just overjoyed as he described her dark hair and sweet little (already sharp!) finger nails :) I was brought to tears as Nicola held Jo-Jo to the phone so I could hear my sweet little God Daughter cry on the other side of the world! I'm beyond excited for you, John and Nicola, I can tell you are already feeling how "life changing" becoming a parent is. I am so happy for my brother- the first of the Franco Boys to enter parenthood! I can't wait to see pictures, and will be posting when I get them. I think there is no other way to describe the joy that I have this morning than using a famous quote from John..."Whooooooooooooo Hoooooooooooooo!"