Cooper graduates!

Cooper is now officially a pre-school graduate! Here he is, with our beloved Mrs. Rodriguez, about to walk down the aisle. Afterwards with Mommy and Daddy

Not sure why this came out sideways, but with two friends having cake, Brandon and Luke.

With Spencer and Jake

At home, ready to enjoy his graduation cake!

No jokes about how it's just pre-school...I know, I know, graduations can be overdone sometimes, but this one is so cute! We LOVE Merced Parent Pre-school!!!! Can't wait for Kendall to attend!

May days

Hello there....really need to pay more attention to my poor neglected blog...noticing no one is leaving me comments anymore...is it because you are tired of waiting for me??

We have been busy busy busy...as you all have, I'm sure! I celebrated my birthday, on Mother's Day! 2 special days rolled into one!

Packing up my classroom because...I get to move back to Peterson and teach my favorite grade next year, 3rd! yippeeeee....so thrilled...I get to be with my kids again! SO happy!!!!!!

Happy Mother's Day!!!

I honor of Mother's Day on Sunday...here's a piece on good parenting suggestions I really enjoyed (and enjoy the pics of my sweeties!).

http://71toes.blogspot.com/2008/02/7-motherhood-ideas-i-love.html

More updates

SO blogger was acting funky about adding photos, so here's some more...
Kendall enjoying her popsicle at t-ball! Cooper waiting to bat at his first t-ball game! It was the cutest thing!

Daddy loving on his girl!

future model? she put on red knee socks and started posing.

My breakfast partners

and yes, I do have another child...better get some pics of him, too! Love my Spencer, too!

May May May!

Wow, where has time gone? We are now entering the busiest time for moms and teachers...the end of school! What have we been up to?
Here are the boys relaxing on part of Hawaii...literally...we decided, as I was about to book our Hawaiian vacation...sob...to use that heard earned and saved money to buy furniture and try to have a "grown-up" house. We bought a new bedroom set (bed, dresser, nightstand and entertainment stand) and a kitchen table. I do love it...but will miss playing on Maui this summer. Oh well, there's always next summer...right? Cooper started t-ball, which he LOVES.

Kendall turned 2! Poor girl...her birthday was pretty overlooked. Her actualy day we went to the park for a pizza picnic. No cake. shhhh...that makes me cringe...hope she doesn't need therapy for this in 20 years!

But she did have a birthday tutu!!!!

I {Heart} faces

OK, so i've been stalking this blog for awhile, but ready to dip my toe in...with one of MY fav pix of Miss K! You probably remember seeing it. enjoy again!

We moved!!!

Well...there went April....seriously! started busy and now ending busy! We celebrated Kendall's 2nd birthday! It was very low key. I actually feel bad...so low key...so next year I have to give her a blow out! i'm picturing a pink tea party for my girly girl! then, we moved! Yippee! I don't know if you knew...but I hated my house! The floor plan was great, the neighborhood was fine, but after getting robbed last fall, I had been ready to move on. plus, we were always sick there and it was dark and falling apart. So...when this new house popped up in the neighborhood we really wanted to be in, we were thrilled! So airy and open and light! 4 bedrooms, 2 baths, big family room, nice size backyard. We are happy here! We have good friends down the street, our babysitter is around the corner, the kids all have friends close by. I have been bad at taking pics...and now I'm not on my computer so I don't have any pics to share. Sorry! I will update more later. Just wanted to pop in and say {hello}!!!!! Enjoy Earth Day!!!

HapPy EasTEr!

Happy Easter to all of you!!! Hope you enjoy your day and take time to reflect on Jesus' sacrifice for us! I am so thankful that He is risen!

We are celebrating all weekend! Yesterday we dyed eggs (or drew on eggs)at Grammy's with the cousins, (And Joe played with his new toy he got Friday...he finally replaced his stolen camera with this beauty he scored off ebay! Need any video work or editing? Joe's your man!)and then went to Steph's for her annual Easter party. Yummy food and a big hunt for the kids! This year Brian was the bunny! Kendall would not go near him for anything (yes, it was freezing!!! In April! Still not sure how I am going to bundle my kiddos today in their Easter clothes!)! Spencer said, "I knew the Easter Bunny was Stephanie last year! This year it was Corbin's Dad!" Friends...we missed you Chip & Vicki!

Today we are going to church, and then we are heading back to Grammy's for Easter festivities. We are celebrating Nana's and Grandpa's 62nd anniversary today and Kendall's birthday, too. You should see the tutu she is going to wear! So sweet! Have a happy day..and enjoy Spring Break....SO thrilled!

March(ing) on

Well hello there....how are you enjoying March? A little too chilly for me...but spring is almost here! Yippee!!!! We have been busy! But who isn't??? First we had this...first tooth out...then we had number 2 come out...(he only received $1 from the tooth fairy!)...and in more BiG news...we now have a rock star (in the making) on our hands! Cooper is officially enrolled in guitar classes and proudly owns a real electric guitar! He is SO excited! The teacher suggested electric instead of acoustic because it's easier for small children to hold. Cooper is so excited! He turns on the music channel on TV and rocks along with it. Very cute! Can't believe I let my 4 year old get an electric guitar, though. Am I nuts or what??? I will keep you posted!

(Cooper dresses himself. Trust me, I did not pick out camo and plaid. He's a rock star, what can I say?)

And in other news..coupons...I attended a coupon class last month and was shocked to realize I have been "couponing" wrong the whole time! Basically, if you use just a coupon on a full price item, you would have probably saved money buying generic. You need a manufacturer's coupon, as well as a store coupon, and if the item is on sale, you are in business! The Sassy Saver (http://www.thesassysaver.net/) says she pays about $1 or less (sometimes free!) for each of the items she buys. Her total grocery bill (including toiletries) is around $35 a week! Can you believe that??? So, I am slowly trying this out. Some local friends here are doing very well! Me, not so hot. Spent an hour at Walgreens and spent about $3 total for two tubes of Crest and a bottle of John Freida shampoo. Good...but an hour??? (My coupons were a mess!). Also did well at CVS a few weeks ago, but then lost my CVS bucks (basically $5 free money). So....not too hot yet! The good news is that you don't have to figure out these deals...there are blogs that explain the deals and which coupons to use. Check the Sassy Saver and http://www.myfrugaladventures.com/ for you NorCal people. So snag a copy of tomorrow (Sunday's) paper and keep the coupon inserts! Go check those blogs now or search for some local ones for you. Let me know how you do...and I'll keep you posted on how I do. I can only get better ! :-)

$20

Hope this doesn't make me a bad mommy...but Spencer got $20 for his tooth! I asked Joe for some cash..$5 or so...since I never have cash...and all he had was a $20! Neither of us felt like going out for cash, so that's what he got! Apparently his class didn't believe him when he told them! LOL! I stamped up a cute little note from the tooth fairy telling him it was a special he got that because it was his first tooth...meaning: don't expect it again! I am sensing 50 cents in the future, especially since he has 3 more loose teeth now!

Sorry I have been a bad blogger! I will try to update you all more often. First up: apparently I have been "couponing" wrong my whole life. I will share what I learned later this week. Very cool!

fun fact: Did you know that the Chile earthquake knocked the earth off it's axis a bit? And shortened our day by a few milliseconds (or so)...just what we busy moms need, right? LESS time in our day!?! Oh well...

Wishing my sweet Jake a happy birthday tomorrow!!! (my nephew and Spencer's BFF) We're heading out for pizza tonight to celebrate. Happy Wednesday!

Don't visit us

We have had the winter illness sweeping our house lately...ugh...first Cooper had about 4 hours of throwing up and then he's all better. The next day, Kendall gets diagnosed with bronchial pneumonia...but she's better except for the ever present runny nose....living in the valley allergies? Then, poor Spencer started feeling feverish and coughing up a storm on Sunday. (my sweet guy riding the bull! He did very well!)He's been out of school all week, sick. Today he was diagnosed with bronchitis and ear infections and needs an inhaler now..ugh...poor kid. so don't visit us right now. Seriously need to disinfect everything!!!! I've been feeling a little yucky, but hey, mamas can't get sick, right???

However, Spencer did have a bright spot today...he lost a tooth! His first! I pulled it out since it was literally hanging in his mouth sideways...so tooth fairy is coming tonight. I've been learning from my friends that she doesn't leave 50 cents anymore, like when I was a kid! How much should I leave him? $1? $2? My friend Shelly's son told her that he would take a credit card when he lost his first tooth! Hahahaha! Our kids are not so innocent anymore, are they? I've learned to put my phone away when Cooper told me the other day he needed to text his Grandma!

Sorry about the pics...haven't downloaded any from my camera in a while..on my to do list! But i love the one of Coop and Kendall...playing in a box together, happy! Love those moments!