Monday, March 17, 2014

Start of Spring Sports Season

Well, ready or not... Here's the start of our spring sports season.  the kids will be doing baseball and volleyball this year. 

Jeremy got kind of bored playing t-ball last year and started playing around in the dirt. For that reason, we decided to move him up to Rookies this year.  That means, the other team pitches 3 and a coach can  come in for 2 additional pitches.
 Jeremy is on the Cardinals team, and he is in Central's baseball league.  We determined that since he would have practices twice a week, it would be good that Jeremy and I are already on the west side.
 He is one of the youngest and shortest players, but so far, has done really well.  Coach Nacho has consistently played him at first base or shortstop.

This year, Grace has decided not to do softball (believe it or not, I am very sad and disappointed- I really was hoping she'd do one more year). She is playing club volleyball for the Patriots Club (through Hoover High School).  She is also one of the youngest and shortest players, but is learning a lot and doing really well.
At least with her new passion, we'll get to sit inside gyms with a/c instead of outside in triple degree weather! 

So let's recap this:  Jeremy has two practices a week, Grace has two practices a week, Jason is coaching volleyball every day afterschool, Jane is coaching Science Olympiad four days afterschool, Jeremy has Saturday games, and Grace has games on either Friday or Saturday... All of this makes for an extremely hectic few months in our household!  Most nights, we won't eat until 7:30pm, and then Jeremy needs to get in bed by 8:15ish and Grace still has homework. AGH!  Fun times, but truly busy times! 

Carmel/Monterey Field Trip

With my school day, it is really hard to take days off and prepare sub plans, so whenever it comes to field trips and Grace's school events, Jason's the one that usually goes (it's much easier for him, and he has more sub days than me).  Well, this year, I was able to chaperone for Grace's field trip to Carmel/Monterey.  Our friend, Marcy, also volunteered to chaperone, so we got to spend the day together.  It was great to be able to chat the whole way there and back.  CJ and Grace have been in the same class two years in a row and it has been awesome.  They are great friends- we are grateful for the Bergens!  
The day started off really early in the morning at 6:00 am as we met at school to board the charter bus.  We arrived at the beautiful Carmel Mission and went on a guided tour.  From there, we took the charter bus to Monterey and had lunch by the pier.  We took a walking tour to Colton Hall and got to tour the hall before walking back to the charter bus in the wharf area. We got back to Fresno at about 6:30pm. It was a very fun day (worth the hours of lesson planning I had to leave for my sub, lol)!
 Grace and me in front of Colton Hall
Me, Grace, Marcy, CJ

Sunday, March 16, 2014

2nd Trimester Awards

At my school, the Kindergarten year is divided up into trimesters.  Jeremy is having such an awesome year, he earned every award possible: Perfect Attendance, Hawk Reader,  Math Marvel, and the Hawk ABC award. Needless to say, we are extremely proud of Jeremy!

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Ash Wednesday

For the first time, we took our kids to our church's Ash Wednesday service on March 5.  Growing up, the only times that I really heard of Lent was when my Catholic friends would talk about it.  I just always associated it with Catholicism.  My understanding of it has certainly changed, and in the past few years, Lent has become a special time of reflection for me, a time for being intentional.  I know many people who try to refrain from doing something during the entire time, but for me, I "add" something to be mindful of, to have a specific purpose.  I was so glad that we shared Ash Wednesday as a family because the service was full of symbols that my kids could actually relate to.  Each symbol was set up at a station that we could freely rotate to.  There were Bible passages/stories that we read with our kids to help them understand what each symbol was supposed to help us remember.  Here are some of them:
 Clay
 Oil
Salt and Light
 Water
 Repentance (kids writing something they're sorry for to lay down at the foot of the cross)

Monday, March 10, 2014

Quick Trip to Santa Cruz

In February, we were able to go spend a night in the Santa Cruz area for Jason's cousin, Cheryl's wedding.  I am so bummed that I forgot my camera and the camera on my phone did not get very many decent pictures.  In fact, the ones I got of Cheryl and her new hubby, Harold, didn't turn out! :(
Here are a few that kind of did:
 Dan, Jen, Jason, Jane
 Booo.... So grainy and blurry!
The kids thought it was cool that we sent off the newlyweds with sparklers.



We spent the night with Jason's cousins, Brad and Terri.  Here's Grace with Hannah's pet lizard.
The next day, we met up with the family for breakfast before spending hours on the beach.  Seriously, our family never tires of being at the beach!

Sunday, March 9, 2014

Verenika Dinner

So within a matter of weeks, our kids got to experience their Vietnamese culture and Mennonite culture in very special ways!  A month ago, we were so lucky to get to be a part of Jill's annual verenika dinner!  The best way I can describe verenika is that it's a Mennonite dish that is basically a ravioli-type dumpling with cheese inside.  I know that it's incredibly time-consuming to make, so to get to enjoy them was a real treat for our family!  All Mennonites seem to have "their" version of how to eat it; Jill makes hers with a sweet sauce that is to die for.  It was perfectly paired with German sausage and zwiebach (Mennonite bread/roll). Yum!  Thanks, Jill!