Happy Birthday, Babe! (aka Daddy)

Happy Birthday, babe... Hope you enjoy your day (thanks for still going outside to mow the lawn)! I love you so very much- thank you for being such an amazing and wonderful husband and daddy.

Working Parents

I know, I know... People check out our blog mostly to get updates on Grace and Jeremy. This particular post is actually going to be about Jason and me. Here are some pictures that might give you a glimpse into our work.

My school's Open House was a few weeks ago. I really love my work as a teacher, and so despite the crazyness that might come with preparing for an Open House, I always look forward to it. I enjoy meeting with the parents, and seeing how excited the kids get to be able to show off the things they've worked on. For this year's Open House, I would have to say that the kids were proudest of their State Report Powerpoint presentations (I'm proud that I was able to teach them how to create those). Another thing that they loved was challenging their parents to our version of "Are YOU Smarter than a 5th Grader?" We have CSTs (California State Testing) starting next week, and I feel like it's all downhill from there. I can't believe how fast this year has gone by. Of course, that might have something to do with how I was off for 4 months!

Jason lives to coach volleyball. His boy's team's season just started. Grace and I were able to go watch the first game against Terronez. It was a very close game and ended with Terronez edging out Wawona in Game 3 with a score of 17-15 (they had won game point but the call was reversed by the ref). He's had two games since and their record is currently 1-2. He's such a great coach. His boys learn so many things from him. This year's team has got great potential. They are in a tough league against schools with reputable volleyball programs. His two losses were really close against Terronez and Tenaya, and they dominated in their win against St. Anthony's.

Last week was my school's carnival. Jason brought Grace and Jeremy out to my school. We ate, talked with friends, and Grace played in the bounce houses and several carnival games. Jeremy actually stayed up the entire time, taking in all the different sights and sounds. I enjoyed showing off my wonderful family to all the students and staff!Feel free to check out more pictures in our Family Photo Album.

Busy Day for Birthdays

It was a busy day for Grace today! She was invited to two birthday parties- one was for Gabriella whose mom, Amy, works with me, and the other was for Ethan, whose parents, Russ and Alison, are in our small group at church.

Ella and Grace

Gabriella's "princess" birthday was at Storyland. It was so cute- all of the girls were invited to dress up in their favorite princess attire. In addition to making a wand craft, the girls were guided around Storyland by Cinderella. Our friend, Jamie, gave Grace a beautiful princess dress earlier this week, and so of course Grace wore that one to the party. She looked absolutely adorable!

After going home for a short nap, we then went to Oso de Oro Park for Ethan's "dinosaur" party. The kids got to make an erupting volcano, go on a dinosaur egg hunt, and dig for dinosaurs. What a contrast, from princesses to dinosaurs!

Ethan and Grace

She had such a great time at both parties. Happy Birthday, Ella and Ethan! (More pictures in our Family Photo Album)

Six Months Old

Half a year old... that's Jeremy! In just this past week, it seems like Jeremy has grown up a lot- maybe it has something to do with these: him consistently rolling over, or in addition to his bottles, is eating 3 "meals" a day (rice cereal for now), or how he wears clothes made for 9 month olds, or how shoes don't really fit because his feet are too "high/fat," or because he's sleeping longer through the night... We can't believe it! Our son is 6 months old!

Gracie's 1st Ballet Class

For the longest time, we've been meaning to put Grace in some kind of a class- gymnastics, dance, etc. Well, we finally decided on a mommy and me tap/ballet dance class. They also do some gymnastics, so it's a good introduction to all kinds of things. Her first class was last week. She is just the cutest little dancer. I was amazed to see how some things came so naturally to her. It was also interesting to see her watch, listen to, and follow the teacher's directions (Teacher Katie, who Grace calls "Teacher Kitty"). I'm not being biased- many other parents have commented on how coordinated and "good" Grace is! I really thought she might get shy and clingy, but it was very evident that she loves her class. In fact, by the middle of last week's lesson, she told me to go sit down. Tonight, Jason and Jeremy came to watch, and Jason even participated and helped out with Grace so I could take some more pictures. Check out the Family Photo Album!

Big Girl Gracie

Gracie's been potty-trained for quite some time now, but up until a month ago, she was still wearing pull-ups to bed because we didn't want the hassle of waking up in the middle of the night in the event that she wet her bed. I know, how lazy of us! Anyway, when we ran out of pull-ups this last time, I finally asked her if she wanted me to go buy more, or if she thought she was ok without them. She decided that she was now a "big girl." The teacher-in-me came up with a sticker chart- every morning, if Gracie was dry, she got to add a sticker to her chart. When the chart was filled up, she'd get a special reward. She chose the reward to be a day at the zoo. Well, 30 nights passed and you guessed it- she did it, without any accidents! This past Saturday, we took the kids to the zoo. This also happened to be Jeremy's first visit to the zoo. He slept pretty much the entire time. For some strange reason, Gracie was very anxious to see the camel. She claimed that to be her favorite. After watching it do nothing for about a minute, she changed her mind. She later said that she enjoyed the frogs and snakes the most. Yikes! It's interesting that she liked those over feeding the giraffes (her first time). I must say that out of all the times I've been to the zoo, this was the first time I've ever seen a lizard being fed live mice babies for lunch. Hmmm, what a sight. Aside from that, all in all, it was a great day!

Happy Easter!

Happy Belated Easter! Our Easter actually started off with dinner at Adam and Jill's on Saturday night. After dinner, we watched Grace experience her first time dyeing eggs. Jason did most of the work, but she definitely helped, telling him what to do. Jason's looking forward to having egg salad sandwiches for lunch this week! After church on Sunday, we headed up to Coarsegold to Jason's mom's for lunch with his family. The kids were so excited about the Easter egg hunt. Grace did pretty well- next year, she probably won't get a head start! It was really nice, spending time with family, just being together. Pictures are in our Family Photo Album (link is on the right hand side of this blog). Sorry- Jeremy was asleep for a lot of the afternoon, so I didn't get too many of him. I'm also bummed that I didn't get a picture of Grace and Jeremy together! Sigh...

We hope you had a blessed Easter, a meaningful time of reflection and thanksgiving for everything that our Christ did for us.

I'm forgiven, because you were forsaken,

I'm accepted, you were condemned,
I'm alive and well, your Spirit is within me,

Because you died and rose again.

Amazing love, how can it be?

That you my King should die for me?

Amazing love, I know it's true

And it's my joy to honor you

In all I do, let me honor you
(taken from You Are My King: Amazing Love)

Just Funny

Grace has been at it again!

She is usually very picky about what she wears. For example, her socks have to match the color of her shirt. She does not like wearing plain white socks unless she is wearing a white shirt. It gets hard in the morning sometimes to get her ready for the day. Okay, having said that, check out what she picked to wear today- a striped shirt with polka dot fleece pants (Jason's wearing shorts today because it's so nice outside, and she chose fleece pants), and you can't see in the picture, but she also has on blue slippers. Talk about a "busy" picture, what with all the colors and patterns!

Firsts

For the last week or so, Jeremy has continued to wake up at least once through the night wanting to be fed. He drinks a full bottle, so we know he really is hungry. On Tuesday, we finally decided to give him a taste of his first solid- rice cereal. Maybe it was just a fluke, but he did sleep through the night! Here are a few pictures of his first experience with "food!" By the way, I had to take Jeremy in to see the doctor yesterday. It turns out that he still has a sinus infection, so he's back on antibiotics. He got weighed while we were there- 18 lbs. 4 oz. Big boy!

Before

During

After

This past week has been so beautiful outside. We dusted off Gracie's tricycle and let her ride around outside. She has 2 tricycles- we gave her one for her 2nd birthday and my parents gave her one last summer. She hasn't truly learned how to ride either one of them. She can pedal a little, but ends up using her feet to "walk" the tricycle. She's definitely getting better though! Here are 2 videos.

San Jose Visit

Most people here in Fresno have just assumed over the years that I am not into sports. They assume that because I'm not into baseball or football, the two major sports that almost every American is into. Hey- I'm Canadian! I'm totally into hockey!!! I grew up in Canada- during the Oilers Dynasty, nonetheless. I grew up watching Gretzky, Messier, Kurri, Anderson, Coffey, Lowe, Fuhr... I used to have a scrapbook where I kept important newspaper articles about the Oilers... I used to know tons of useless trivia about them, too. I cried when Gretzky was traded! I haven't been able to be true hockey fan since moving to Fresno since we don't have cable or satellite, and I don't get the Fresno Bee (with their minimal coverage) so I am not able to really follow the Oilers' season. Anyway, I'm mentioning all of this because you can imagine my excitement when this past weekend, Jason and I were invited by our friend, Darren, to go see a San Jose Sharks game against the Oilers. We drove to San Jose on Sunday and went with Darren and his friend Josiah. Darren won tickets through his work. His wife, Julie, offered to watch all of our kids. Julie and Darren have a 6 month old named Claire, and a 3 year old named Jenny (she's practically 3). Thank goodness Julie invited one of her friends, Melissa, to come help her because I wouldn't have been able to go if it weren't for that.

I proudly wore my Oilers t-shirt-I was alone in a sea of Sharks! It was awesome, cheering them on. The Oilers ended up winning 2-1 (shootout) but I must honestly say that they didn't deserve it. The Sharks completely dominated the entire game. It was still so much fun! Thank you, thank you, thank you, Darren!

The next day, we took our families to Santa Cruz. We walked to the wharf and had lunch there, before spending the afternoon on the Boardwalk. The girls wanted to go on rides. How cute it was, the two of them riding together. Several times, I thought Grace was going to burst into tears, but she always insisted that she was having fun. I guess it's just me and my paranoia (I can not, will not go on rides! I'm chicken... and I get extremely nauseous). It was a fantastic visit with the Pozzis. Thank you guys, for such an awesome time! Make sure you check our photo album for pictures of our visit with the Pozzi family.

Brother and Sister

Just a video of Gracie entertaining Jeremy!

5 Months Old!

I'm late with this blog- Jeremy turned 5 months two days ago. He is growing like a weed! He's going through a growth spurt right now, and we know because he's been waking up twice in the middle of the night to feed at least 7 or 8 oz. of formula. Who knows- maybe he'll start on solids soon! Jason is taking him to the doctor tomorrow so we'll find out how heavy he is. Jeremy was supposed to get his vaccinations a few weeks ago, but since he was sick and had a fever, his appointment was rescheduled for tomorrow. This past month, Jeremy has become much more interactive. He almost always responds when we talk with him, mostly by smiling back or "babbling" to us. It was exciting to see him roll over twice this month- both times were from his belly to his back. He also started blowing raspberries. Drool is often coming out of his mouth and getting his collars wet! Is it possible that it's almost been half a year since he came into our lives?!