San Francisco, Here We Come...

We spent a beautiful day in the city yesterday! We started with Steph's show, Anansi, The Clever Spider at the New Conservatory Theatre. It was great! The actors were superb, and of course, we had front row seats! It was Kendall's first show, and she was very good!

Then we went to Golden Gate Park for a picnic. We ate at a children's area, and it was awesome! the boys had a blast climbing the hills, playing on the equipment, going down a rock slide,....sooo fun...can't believe you can actually find these kinds of things that are still slightly dangerous... you grab a piece of cardboard and slide down!and just hanging out. Steph packed a yummy lunch.

After that, she took us on tour of western San Francisco...parts I had never been to. We saw Ocean Beach, the Cliff House, Sea Cliff: very exclusive homes, the Presidio, views of the Golden Gate (if you look carefully in the backgrounds, you can see the Golden Gate)...gorgeous spots! I can't wait to go back to Ocean Beach-it's breathtaking! (And of course, a trip to the park isn't complete until you feed the ducks!)

We had a wonderful day...THANKS, STEPH! We can't wait to go back. And to top it off, the kids were very well-behaved! You just never know how an almost 6, almost 4, and almost 1 year old will act! Just one minor incident when Cooper set off Steph's panic button on her car...he had to get it out somehow...haha!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend! :-)

No spend challenge???

Anyone up for another no spend challenge again? I did pretty good last time around, I think I did end up spending something...but ready to try again! It just feels good to live more frugally...and do I think we are missing out on anything? No, I don't. I think my kids are pretty happy...they don't know their clothes are hand-me-downs or used! They still look pretty cute, if I do say so myself!

How are YOU adjusting to the economic depression? I am thankful I have my job, especially when so many teachers are being laid off. I won't even complain right now that I'm not sure where or what grade I'll be teaching next year...I said right now...don't quote me in a month or so! I've been so spoiled having Spencer at school with me!!!

Anyway, it comes down to this: my blessings!

Mommy love

So check out this blog post at one of my favorite sites, I Never Grew Up! She's giving away some pretty jewelry from an etsy artist, Cinnamon Sticks. Bookmarked her site, for sure...and if anyone is wondering what to get me for my birthday...in 2 months, ha!...I'd love something from this seller! So, go check it out...now! :-)

Hello Spring!

Happy 2nd day of spring! Hope you are enjoying the new season...I sure am! A new start! :-)

We:

*are starting T-ball on Monday! Joe is Spencer's assistant coach!

*are planning a 1st birthday bash for Kendall...mostly just family, nothing too crazy this year!

*are moving into Grammy's house for the night on Monday while our house gets sprayed for spiders...after finding spiders in: my make-up bag (ewww), our bed, the walls in every room and last straw: Kendall's crib!!!!, we are having the house fumigated!

*are soooo excited to see Jenny & Megan in 2 weeks for Kendall's birthday!!!!

(picture taken by Cooper...love it!)

*had a blast watching Brian (my brother-in-law) fight in a cage fight and WIN last night! Ooooh, it was scary...the guy he was fighting was rocked out! But Brian took him down...in round one! Go, Brian! (He's in the black shorts)

*put Kendall in her big girl carseat!*had leprechauns visit us and turn the milk and eggs green! They also visited my classroom, left footprints, and a mess...plus hidden treats for the kids!

And in other news, we are starting a new family tradition! I saw somewhere in a book that we usually remember what we did for our birthdays, but not what we got. And let's face it, do we usually have to wait for our birthdays to get things we want? Maybe the big things...

but anyways, we are going to do a family activity on birthdays instead...the birthday person gets to pick the activity. For Kendall's birthday, we are going to the Fresno Zoo. For my birthday, I requested Monterey and a beach picnic. Spencer wants San Francisco. :-)

Have a happy Saturday! :-)

Etsy Love

If you haven't been on etsy.com yet, stop what you are doing and check it out! The coolest things are on there! I am drooling over the handmade baby clothes, butterfly mobiles, shirts for me, purses, shall I go on??? And I fell in love with this print

that I saw on Ali Edwards blog. So cool. I just ordered it for Kendall's room. Her room needs some help...now that we are renting, we miss our painted walls. So I am looking for cool art, a pink rug, and some sheer curtains with butterflies. I'll show you a picture when I have it! Can't wait! Go check out pennypeople. I have some others that I love, too...will have to post them!

Random-ness

Baby K outside...

Spencer reading aloud
Cooper on his new bike!!! Thanks, Grandma and Grandpa!

Kids playing outside (Coop, Jake, Atheina, & Spencer)

Cooper and "Cakey" (how he says Jake's name) K hates the grass!

K's new shoes: thanks to a sweet friend who either gives me or sells me gently used Pedipeds for $10! (And today Grandma bought her cute summer sandals!)

Boys eating dinner (I like the blurriness of this picture)

How's March treating you? We're fine! Enjoying the warmer weather, walks, and bike rides! Cooper got his birthday present a few months early (Grandma and Grandpa can't wait!) and loves his new bike! He was so proud to get it! We even had to stop by his cousins' house on the way home to show them his new bike!

We got a new washer & dryer and boo-hoo...the washer doesn't work! The store said they think a hose got nicked and they are sending a tech on Monday....thank goodness my mom and mother-in-law live nearby!!! Laundry + three kids (three dirty kids...:-)= full time job!

Having a mini-crisis this weekend...all three boys had eye doctor appointments on Friday, and I am hoping that Cooper accidentally left his "mine" (his special blue blanket that he takes everywhere!) there. But it was late Friday when we noticed, and we're stuck for the weekend now! Poor boy, he has been asking for it and telling us he "misses mine sooo much!" Luckily, he's fallen asleep pretty easily without it the last 2 nights (but that's mostly b/c he didn't nap...). I feel so bad for him, but I also think it's time to start breaking him of the habit of taking it everywhere! When we get it back, new rule: mine stays home!

If you missed Oprah this week, check out her website to see the yummy family friendly, cheap meals some good chefs prepared for viewer families. I'm definitely trying those...

Ok, that's enough babbling for now...see you later! :-D

Welcome March

Park day...enjoying the nice weather

Dad and Joe enjoying beer and chinese food!

Project 365...excuse the total mess...

New haircut!

Cousin Jake is 6!!!

Cutie pie Spencer!

Hello all....no, haven't fallen off the face of earth...but three kids keep me busy! And now that Kendall is more active...can't believe that in less than a month, she'll be 1! No more babies...I really don't want any more kids, but I love having babies...I get a little sad as we are outgrowing all the baby gear...

*However, little miss is truly a mama's girl! Love that! She wants me more than anyone. She takes after me:twirls her hair with her fingers when she's tired and she doesn't care for avocado (the boys gobbled up "cado"). She's so sweet!

*Spencer is going to start T-ball soon! He is in major birthday party season...2 parties the last week, and 3 more this week alone! He loves writing and carries his notebook around to "take notes". Today he wrote this long piece about going to the zoo...if I can pry the notebook from his fingers, I'll copy it here. It was good! Even remembered a "peri-ment" at the end, as he says it! :-)

*Cooper is Cooper, had his first dentist visit and did fine. Good report...except time to cut out the thumb sucking...oh, my, how to do that? Makes me miss the pacifier a bit...at least we could just take that away from Spencer, but the thumb??? I'm going to use a chart and give him sticker rewards for not using it during the day. At night, he can still suck away...

*So happy that MOM is home again! She went to San Diego a week and a half ago and had a great time "babysitting" for her grand-dogs (Jenny's term, not mine!) while Jenny & Justin went to Colorado. We missed her a lot here!

*The weather is starting to get nicer here...so ready. I want to pack away the sweaters! I love all the bright colors out in the clothes this spring!

*Wanting to learn how to sew...itching to make cute little dresses for K and pretty up the house. Mom, can you teach me??? :-)

*Still plugging away on my project 365...taking a pic a day. The pics on this entry are some examples.

Will be better about keeping my blog updated. Did you miss me?????????