Saturday, November 19, 2011

Jeremy's Soccer Season

We have had such a fun time watching Jeremy play soccer this year.  He understood the point of the game, continually went after the ball, learned how to change the direction of the ball, became very good at dribbling, and near the end of his season, he even learned to "share" the ball by passing it to other kids.  He scored many goals and despite being very tired in each game, he endured, and was tenacious. 
Part of what made the season so fun was being with his friends, Jackson, Luke, and Jacob.  At the start, we were ok with the season being only 6 weeks, but honestly, we wouldn't have minded if the season had been a little longer.  Fresno's next league sport is basketball and we have opted not to sign him up for that.  We definitely can't wait for spring and the start of t-ball again!
 Jeremy's adoring fans!

Happy Halloween!

 This year, Grace asked to be an artist (I'm serious- it was her idea), Jeremy asked to be an astronaut, and Jason, well, he decided last minute to add some things to the shirt he was already wearing.
The only thing I wanted at the church carnival was cotton candy, and thanks to Cheryl, I was one of the first ones to get it!
  The kids had fun playing some of the carnival games- a carnival favorite was Angry Birds!
 We went trick-or-treating with Charlotte and Levi to some houses around the church's neighborhood.
 Happy Halloween!

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Grace's Artist Birthday Party

October is definitely a party month for the Isaacs!  As soon as Jeremy's birthday party was done with, I switched gears to work on Grace's party.  This year, she definitely had her own ideas on what she wanted, so that made it a little easier for me.  Grace asked to have a party centered around painting, so we had an artist party.  As soon as her friends arrived, they used fabric markers to decorate their own personalized aprons.
We invited our artist friend, Ashley, to come and teach the girls a painting lesson.  It was wonderful!  She did an amazing job teaching the kids different painting techniques as they painted on canvas. 
I had to post this picture- Jeremy didn't get to paint with the girls, but he was completely fascinated and stood completely focused on Ashley as she taught her lesson.
 
 The girls showing off their artwork and aprons
Grace's masterpiece!
Grace was very specific- she wanted a rainbow cake that looked like an artist's palette... I'm so glad she loved her cake!  I can't believe it has been 7 years that she has been in our lives.  I am so grateful for my sweet, beautiful, intelligent, sensitive, caring, and thoughtful girl!  Happy Birthday, Gracie! 

Pumpkin Patch

It's an Isaac family tradition- we go to the pumpkin patch every year on Grace's birthday!  Here are a few pictures from our visit. 


Friday, November 4, 2011

Jeremy's 4th Birthday was a Blast!

With every birthday that our kids have had, I have tried to make each one special and memorable.  Now that they're older, they definitely have an idea of what they want!  Jeremy told me a few months ago that he wanted to have a "space" birthday party.  I searched online for all kinds of ideas- thank goodness for the internet!  We feel incredibly blessed to have many friends who have boys all around Jeremy's age. 
As soon as the boys arrived, they had "Launch Preparation" in which they decorated paper rockets with stickers.  Afterwards, they had to "Gear Up" by getting ready with jetpacks that Jason and I made for each boy.  We headed towards the empty lot next to our home to the "Rocket Launch."  I am lucky that Jason is so handy- he found directions online on how to build a rocket launcher using an air compressor.  We had the boys take turns launching their rockets.  Unfortunately, since some of the rockets had been made with Scotch tape as opposed to packaging tape, some of them exploded in the air due to the air pressure- some boys were on the verge of tears!  Oops!  It was very cool and exciting to see some of the rockets launched into the air.  Boys young and old enjoyed themselves!
After the rocket launch, the boys played a game called Alien Attack using nerf guns.  While waiting for our "Pizza Planets" to arrive, the boys got a chance to play while we sat and chatted with friends.  
Here is Jeremy with his rocket cake.   He absolutely loved it- in fact, he had gotten up first that morning, and had tried to sneak some of it.  When I saw it a while later, parts of the frosting and outline were missing and I had to do some rocket repairs! 

We are so thankful to have this amazing little-big boy in our lives!  Our Bear is a goofy jokester with a great sense of humor, is passionate, intelligent, caring and endearing.  We love him so incredibly much- happy 4th birthday to our Jere-Bear! 

Silverbacks' Soccer

This fall, we decided to sign Jeremy up for the City of Fresno's 3-4 yr. old soccer league.  Since we know several boys who are around the same age as him, we invited them to sign up as well.   We requested for our boys to be put on the same team, so some of his teammates are his friends, Jackson, Jacob, and Luke.  Coach Frank was Jeremy's t-ball coach, and we were thrilled to find out he would also be coaching Jeremy's soccer team.  Jeremy has scored several goals and has been playing so well!  It has been a lot of fun cheering on the Silverbacks!

Fresno Fair

It's not a secret- Jason has expressed on many occasions that he is not a fan of fairs.  It was somewhat surprising that he agreed to chaperone for Grace's field trip to the Fresno Fair a few weeks ago.  I guess it was ok for him since the kids didn't get to go on any rides and it wasn't as crowded as it can be later in the day.  Her class ended up having so many parent chaperones that Jason ended up with only Grace and one other classmate, and they walked around with Grace's friend and her dad.  The girls got to explore the farm animal and rainforest exhibits, and even did some gold panning.  Fun times at the Big Fresno Fair!