Baseball, Birthday parties, Thanksgiving and more!

With the Spring like weather off and on the past two weeks we have had some great outdoor family time. We have been playing a bit of baseball as we decide what this Spring time will hold. It looks like Phoenix will be playing T-ball and Axel will be playing AA ball again. The funny thing is it appears Rubix is the one who loves it the most. He has one more season he has to wait until we can get him into mini T-ball.

 Axel has a lot more power than he did last year. All of that swimming must have built some upper body strength because his throwing is much better than a year ago.

 Axel lost his 4th tooth last week. He has been saving his teeth in a little plastic container. We went to the dentist on Wednesday and she wants him to get a full orthodontic examination because he has moderate crowding. Apparently, they have a device that can widen the jaw and limit the amount of teeth that need to be pulled. I am not in a hurry to get this evaluation as he only has 4 permanent teeth, although the dentist doesn't think it matters how many adult teeth he has.

 The Axel's tend to get together every week or so for a playdate. They have continued with  Nerf gun fights. Rubix and Phoenix enjoyed picking up the nerf darts and handing them to the boys.

 We really don't like how he is playing with the Nerf guns, but we do like how he is running around having fun with his friend.

 Last weekend was all about birthday parties. Axel went to Axel R's party while Phoenix went to a new classmate's party. She had fun climbing through the structures with her friends while Rubix had fun looking at all of the arcade games.

 He especially liked the basketball games. He took small balls from the toddler section and was throwing them into the basketball hoop. He was way more interested in the games then the toddler play area.

 Sunday night we went to a Pump it Up party where you jump in the dark. It was really fun. Arya's parents purchased a bunch of glow in the dark accessories which made it even more fun for the party attendees. It was quite the weekend for Phoenix to be able to spend time with her new and old friends.

 This Wednesday, Phoenix had a Thanksgiving feast at school and was a pilgrim for part of the feast and then an Indian for another part. She loves her hats and has been wearing them both when she can.

 On Thanksgiving we got up and headed out the door as early as we possibly could. We made it to Gma Susan's house about half past 10 am. We enjoyed visiting and park play before heading over to Auntie's house for Thanksgiving dinner. At Auntie's the cousins played non stop until we left at 8pm. It was an exceptionally long day, but worth the effort.

Shannon and I had every intention of taking pictures. We were both unsuccessful at taking pictures, but Gpa Brian was able to capture a few pictures. This is my favorite where Aya and Uncle Ryan are photo bombing the three of us. 

Auntie and I with the two little ones. 

Daddy and our two lovely boys!

 On Friday we decorated the Christmas Tree. The kids always love to do this and I was impressed at how efficient we were this year. We were able to get everything down from the attic and the tree fully decorated all during Rubix's 2 hour nap. When he awoke he was excited to see the tree.

 So far, he has not broken any ornaments. Axel and I were betting that he was going to think the bingle balls (the round ornaments) were balls, but luckily, he has not grabbed them or thrown them.

 The next month is quite busy for us as it is for most people. I am not sure if I will manage to post. We have Axel's cub scout's Los Gatos parade next weekend, Phoenix's Christmas show, Axel's Holiday performance, my work party, Keith's work party, Keith travels to Palm Spring for work, Phoenix's IQ test for Harker, and other school and work activities before we head to San Diego the week before Christmas. Our goal is to really embrace each day to hold onto this lovely time of year.
We hope all of our friends and family have a lovely Holiday Season celebrating our Risen Lord and Savior. 

Quick Update

Last Saturday night we enjoyed a lovely Spanish dinner to celebrate Luis's birthday. This was the first time we were able to get together with Eileen and Luis since they went to pick up their new daughter. Lily, is going to be 2 years old next week. She is doing amazing for just changing cultures and coming into a new family. She is sweet and independent. I unfortunately, did not manage to capture her on film, but Rubix had a lot of fun trying to keep up with her. She loves to play catch and with balls and cars like Rubix so they were instant "friends".

 On Mondays and Tuesdays, Phoenix has to wear her school uniform. Here she is on Monday. She loves to wear it and she looks like such a big girl. I am still adjusting to just having Rubix alone on Thursdays and Fridays. I miss not seeing Phoenix as much, but boy is she loving school. This morning she didn't want to wait to go at 8:45 am, when I usually drop her on Thursdays and Fridays. She wanted to go earlier like she does the first three days of the week when I am working. I did not manage to get her there at 7:20 am, but she did arrive a little earlier at 8:30 am. I am so glad she is enjoying her new school. Because she is one of the first students to arrive Monday through Wednesday she is getting extra help from one of the teachers to catch her up to the other students in her class who already recognize all of the alphabet and know all of the sounds. The head school master, Mrs. Terri believes she is doing well and will get caught up shortly. She said don't worry, she will be reading soon. I actually wasn't worried, but I am glad to see the school is dedicated to learning. Phoenix has been enjoying her history and science which is all about the history of Thanksgiving and the food associated with Thanksgiving. She now knows what foods go into what food groups, i.e. dairy, grains, etc.

 Rubix is a hoot. He requires so much work when the other kids aren't around. He wants to play, play, play, which is great, when I don't have to clean, do laundry or make meals. He is really into shoes. He is constantly going into the coat closet and putting on my shoes. Here he is with my bunny slippers. He was so proud of himself because he got them on without any help.

 Today he was exceptionally brave and determined at the park which lead to a couple of good growth experiences. Here he is swinging at the top of the slide. He discovered he was able to climb up and down the slide which lead him to tumbling forward and descending the slide face first on his stomach. I warned him, but he was defiant and had to learn the hard way. I am glad that he didn't get hurt, but that he did get scared. He also was goofing off on the play structure and missed a step and fell onto all fours which gave him a good scare. Again, I was happy he didn't really hurt himself, but again was glad that he was scared. I really need him to learn his limitations because I am afraid he is going to really hurt himself.

 Axel is loving Cub scouts. Here is a picture that Keith captured at his last Pack meeting. We are really glad that he decided to stay in the same Pack with his old classmates. They seem to be very well organized this year and are working through the book learning lots of fun things like how to start fires (3 different ways) and tying knots, etc.

Here is a cute short video of Rubix playing basketball. We typically rotate between basketball, baseball and soccer throughout the day with a little time spent playing with cars or building with Legos. 

Next weekend is a big weekend. We have 2 birthday parties on Saturday (Axel's friend, and Pheeny's friend) and we are having our annual Pre- Thanksgiving gathering that night as well. This weekend we have a couple of play dates and then the farmer's market and Church, which should be nice and relaxing in preparation to the start of the busy holiday season.

A whirlwind of events

Since my last post so much, but so little has transpired. The highlight of events for me was seeing my Grandfather for his 83rd birthday. I feel so blessed to be able to see the twinkle in his eyes as he reflects the joy of life. It was also nice to catch up with other family members from that side of the family. 

 Most of my time last week when I wasn't working was getting Phoenix switched over to another school. I have been so disappointed with the preschool program and all of its changes at Marshall Lane. For the amount of money I was spending I felt more learning and a more structured environment should be provided. To make a very long story short we have her at a private school called Challenger where she is getting 5 days of instruction rather than 3 days for basically the same costs. It was a tough decision to make the quick change and not have her go to Angela's anymore, but it is something that I am very happy about. She is so excited to be learning. She gets 40 minutes of phonics and 40 minutes of mathematics every day along with Spanish, Science, Social Studies, Art and Music daily. It is also bittersweet for me because I don't have anymore Mommy days with her now that she is in school 5 days per week.

The great thing about the change is that Rubix won't have anymore naps interrupted by pick ups and I can get Axel and Phoenix at the same time. I am able to get both kids within 20 minutes. Having both schools within 2 miles from the house makes it very nice and convenient.

I took this picture below because Rubix was in a very deep sleep and I had to wake him to go pick up one of the kids. I can't remember now who, but I found it so funny that he was in such a deep sleep that he didn't even wake when the flash went off. I also like this picture because it shows how tall he is.

 After not getting much riding in because of different weekend trips I felt very blessed that I was able to ride up the hill last Saturday and Sunday. It was very cold and foggy near the house, but it didn't take long to climb out of the fog. On my way down the hill I stopped to capture the beautiful image of the mountains and the cloud layer.

 It seems our weekends always get filled with playdates, birthday parties or other events. Here is a picture of Rubix in car heaven at Axel R's house. His little brother Jasper especially loves cars. If you look closely you can see how many cars are in the room beyond where Rubix is playing. Phoenix also enjoyed playing with all of Jasper's toys.

 While the little ones were inside playing the Axel's had a true Dude Perfect Nerf gun face off. I don't think I have ever seen our Axel run around for that long. I believe their battle lasted for almost 2 hours.

 Here is a blurry picture of Jasper and Phoenix checking out what their older brothers were up to.

 We have had 3 weeks of birthday parties. For the second time Phoenix got to go to Airborne gymnastics. This time she went with Rubix rather than Axel. Again, she had so much fun.

 Rubix also had a blast. He ran around non stop and had the time of his life. Just look at his smile below!

 Axel had no school on Monday so Daddy stayed home with him and they hiked and carved 2 of the three pumpkins. When Phoenix and I got home she cleaned out and carved her pumpkin. 

 On Tuesday the department decided to be M & M's. This is the first year that I dressed up out of the 13 and a half years I have worked there. If they make it easy like this every year I might participate more often. :)

 The kids were so excited for Halloween to finally arrive. Axel made a cute Santa. Everyone at school ran up to him and told him what they wanted for Christmas. It was really cute. Phoenix was a fairy princess and she loved every minute of being in her dress. After some convincing Rubix became a Dalmatian. He loved the costume so much that he ended up having it on all afternoon and night!

 Keith decided to be and M & M too. We got a later start than usual trick or treating so the kids were out quite late, but lots of fun was had.

 Rubix got to bed at 8:20 pm.

 Axel and Phoenix got to bed at 9:30 pm. The group below is Axel R. James, Phoenix, Axel S and his new friends Selena and Kristin. The group grew throughout the night and ended up being 10+ kiddos which made for a lot of fun for the kids.

 Our one neighbors who do an amazing job at decorating their house put up a corn maze along their foot path this year. Here is Axel in the corn maze.

Now we are in crunch time to get Phoenix's application in for Harker. Yesterday I spent all of Rubix's nap time filling out the paperwork for the IQ test that Harker requires all K-1 graders to have done as part of the entrance process. We have most of it done except the essay questions about her.

On a more exciting note we have our family vacation planned and scheduled for San Diego come mid December. We will have a week of fun filled sun right before Christmas.

We are also gearing up for Thanksgiving fun too so I hope to get lots of cute pictures of the kiddos!

Rubix is 19 months and Halloween Fun

The front closet in our house that is for our jackets and shoes is very odd shaped. It is about 6 or 7 feet deep and only 3 feet wide except for the back half that is only a foot and a half wide. We were getting something out of the closet, which I can't remember for the life of me now what it was. It became an instant fort and hours of fun while I cooked dinner and helped Axel with his homework. With all of the giggling and fun I made sure to get a few pictures. This was one of two pictures that wasn't blurry. Phoenix could hardly sit still she was having so much fun. 

While at Trader Joe's a couple of weeks ago Phoenix found this haunted chocolate house to build and the kids have been asking ever since when they could put it together. Last Friday was the big day and the kids had loads of fun putting it together.....

Or should I say tasting the "yummy" frosting and candies, while putting it together. I was super proud of Axel and Phoenix because they actually figured out how bad the frosting really tasted. They didn't want anymore when I gave them the okay to eat more. Rubix did a great job of trying to help out and not ruin any of their creating. He just wants to do what the big kids are doing all of the time. I was impressed at him helping out without creating any disasters :).

On Saturday Axel went to the movies with his two new girlfirends from school, Selena and Kristin. They all loved the new Lego Movie. Keith said it was fun to see the three of them play chase after the movie. I had a good friend visit from Colorado while they were all watching the movie.

On Sunday we went to pump it up to a birthday party. Rubix was primarily interested in the balls.

Phoenix was the only one really interested in the slides and obstacle courses. We had so much fun going down the big slide together. Here is a cute picture of her.

Daddy had fun playing air hockey with his buddy KP.

It was KP's daughter's 3rd birthday.

Axel befriended one of the older kids and had fun playing air hockey as well as knocking down balls suspended in the air. He is actually reconsidering the possibility of playing baseball in the Spring. We will see what happens.

Rubix was so tired. The party lasted until 1:15 pm and he is normally well into his nap by then. He was so overly tired that it took him a long time to fall asleep in the car and was unable to transfer into his crib.

Here are the three kiddos with Evelyn the birthday girl.

Because Rubix wasn't sleeping we headed to the pumpkin patch. It ended up being a very hot day. I believe it crested 90 degrees out.

The kids had fun painting their pumpkins as usual.

Rubix turned 19 months on Sunday. I tried my best to capture a good picture of him, but this was one of the only ones he was really smiling. Again, he was so tired from missing his nap.

The kids really wanted to do the cow ride, but after a few minutes Rubix decided it wasn't very fun. It was a little challenging to get him to stay calm, but we ended up finishing the ride.

Here is daddy with the kiddos and their finished pumpkins. 

I leave you with a cute video of Rubix saying a relative newer word. Can you guess?

That's right! It's football season and he loves watching football!

Firsts

We continue to go to story time most Thursdays. The library received new toys for the kids. They have these raised play surfaces. One of them is for trains, another for Legos, and a third one for wooden sticks and circles. I was looking for books and Rubix got really quite. When I peeked around the corner he was inside the storage container smiling away. He is so cute! 

Rubix is almost entirely on dairy now. I still have him drinking Lactaid or lactose free milk. Since we have gone to full fat milk he is sleeping through the night 50% of the time. He is also eating by himself 75% or more of the time. He even manages to use a spoon! He is opposed with pumpkins right now. I really need to record his cute voice. 

He is also mastering his ball handling skills both with his hands and feet. Here is a cute video of him dribbling the ball at the park last week. 

 Phoenix started swinging on her own last week.  She finally got the lean and pumping down and now she is unstoppable. She wants to swing almost the entire time we are at the park. I love seeing it because I loved the swings so much when I was her age.

I spent 6 hours in Phoenix's classroom last Friday and I will do the same thing tomorrow. I am amazed at the dynamic of her class and a little disappointed that things aren't a little easier. I mentioned before there are 22 boys in her class and they have a couple who require extra needs. The entire class except the two boys had to go outside because of their behavioral issues. Luckily, the teacher improvised and they did circle time outside, but it was difficult for the kids to concentrate being outside. I plan on talking with the principle about providing some assistance so the teachers can teach and the kids who want to goof off can sit in the office. We will see what happens. I am looking forward to seeing how things go tomorrow. 

One year ago my mom planned for Shannon, her and I to spend a weekend together getting pampered in Calistoga. We didn't quite make it an entire weekend because of all our little ones, but we had an amazing 24 hours together. Here we are having a mud bath. Yes, weird, but we laughed so hard, it will be a great memory for years to come. 

After the mud bath we had massages and soaked in the mineral pool. We then headed back and got ready for dinner. We went to Healdsburg for dinner and had a delicious meal together. 

Shannon and I split a cucumber martini and the tapas we shared were scrumptious. 

I am so glad we were able to spend the time together. We plan on trying to spend a weekend together every year with each year bringing a new adventure!

Axel started flute lessons 1 month ago. He has had 4 lessons and now he can play Hot Cross Buns and Mary Had a Little Lamb. He is catching on pretty quickly. I am excited that maybe we will be able to play a couple of Christmas carols together this year. I do hope he continues to enjoy it and plays for a few years atleast.

The fires are so sad. We have had unbelievable poor air quality and my heart feels so heavy for all of the thousands of people who have lost their homes and businesses. With the Las Vegas Massacre, the 4 hurricanes and the 2 earthquakes and now the fires I just keep praying that God's glory will shine through this all and that the hope of his name will carry people to trust in Him.

We have another event filled weekend, but have to wait and see if we will be able to do our outdoor adventures because of the air quality. Until next time....