Blue and Gold dinner. Grandma Susan comes to visit!

On Feb 3rd we got together with the MIT crew at Tyler's house. Now that there is 10 kids in all Cynthia decided to have some painting activities. It just happened to be in the mid 70's so we all enjoyed watching the kids make a mess with the last hour of daylight. 

 We were the first to arrive as usual. The newest addition to the clan, Hazel, who is now 15 months had a double ear infection so she stayed home with Brenna. It was a bummer not to see them, but Mark showed an awfully cute video of her eating. She has lots of personality and is quite cute.

 Rubix had a cold, but everyone was fine with him coming over. He did really well and made it until 8 pm playing hard with the other kiddos.

 I managed to take a quick photo before Rubix and I left. Unfortunately, you can't see Josie, Zoe or Jade in this picture. They were just jumping off the couches and wrestling inside the tent. Despite the ciaos the kids and adults, alike, all had fun.

 Rubix is a silly one. This picture is blurry, but he loves to wear hats and he loves to make people laugh. He put Phoenix's tiaras around his waist and then ran around the house waiting to get chased.

This past Saturday after Pheeny's swim lesson and Rubix's nap we headed to Jack Fischer Park. We saw some fun happenings in the park, which happened to be Liam Flynn's birthday party. Because we know everyone at the party and said hello, the kiddos got to join in the fun. All three of them loved these huge soccer balls, called "bubble soccer".

 Liam's mom rented them for 2 hours. The party boys were done with them after the first hour, so our kiddos enjoyed them the second hour.

 These were lots of fun, but come with a danger factor.

 Phoenix's leg got stuck, but luckily, nothing bad came of it.

 On Sunday night Axel had his Blue and Gold dinner for cub scouts. Axel was a flag bearer this year.

 The boys had fun performing their skits and we all enjoyed a nice spaghetti dinner.

 During the parent meeting time, the kids went to another room to play. Phoenix loves the protection of her big brother. Axel is always willing to give her the love and protection she needs to get comfortable in unfamiliar situations.

 Rubix, unlike Phoenix, doesn't need much, except a few balls to play with. We had a little ball that we brought, but then the bigger kids played a live angry bird game which required lots of balls for them to knock the birds down with, which meant plenty of balls for Rubix to play with as well. He threw to me for 30 minutes straight before we had to leave to pick up Grandma Susan.

 Phoenix, Rubix and I headed to the train station to pick up Grandma, as she agreed to watch Axel for three days while I worked, as his school is closed this week. Grandma and Axel had an action packed three days of art projects (crystal and goo making, etc), hiking, and other fun adventures. Here is a cute picture of them on their hike.

Grandma took Axel to the new dollar store that we have a couple of miles a way. They got all kinds of fun things like the balloons you see in this picture. We all had a lovely Valentine's Day where we showered each other with love. 

I finally replaced the broken pencil sharper and Axel got to sharpening the pencils right away. The tooth fairy came and brought Axel 5 dollars on Valentine's Day as well as he lost his 5th tooth on the 13th. He woke up saying how loose his tooth was and then half way through changing Rubix's diaper he said, "my tooth came out." What a big difference from his 1st tooth. He lost the bottom right hand tooth, which became loose just 6 weeks ago. I am starting to think that I should take him to the orthodontist like his dentist recommended to figure out what they are going to do with his small mouth size and big permanent teeth!

Rubix was sooooo tired on Valentine's Day. We went to bed a bit late and he had a rough night the night before. I took this picture and did a bunch of things in his room without him making a peep. I had to wake him up to get to work on time, but enjoyed watching him sleep for a few minutes. 

Today we are catching up on chores and Grandma is safely home. We are looking forward to the long weekend. Axel has a birthday party and Phoenix is working hard at swimming as she is trying to move up to the next level by mastering her "rollovers".

Axel gets 3rd in Pinewood Derby

Last week I captured a cute video of Rubix climbing on the slide. It amazes me how much he is growing and maturing. He is still a bit timid, but I love when he does venture away from Mommy. He has had a rough year so far with virus after virus. He is fighting another cold and struggling to sleep with his very congested nose. I hope he gets over it quickly and doesn't come down with another one for awhile.

Last Sunday Axel had his Pinewood Derby. It was questionable whether he was even going to participate. He really didn't want to make a car and have "extra stress." However, he came around and worked really well with Daddy. He was able to do most of the work himself, except the big initial cutting.  His car is blue again. He wanted blue and gold, but we were not able to borrow paints, so I purchased just the light blue he wanted. He colored the side cut outs red with permanent marker. The process was significantly smoother this year than last year and they were able to get it done over the course of just 4 nights with only 1 trip to the Scout store.  

Axel really did not have any expectations of doing well and stated that he really did not want to go to "Districts". It was a very long day for him and he was really upset that they had to drill out 25+ holes in the bottom of his car to make weight. Everyone had to shave off some of their car to make weight because we think the scale was off as Axel's was 5.01 before the race. Anyways, that was last year. This year Axel's car was about the same weight. He won a few races and came in second in a few races and third in a few races. Here is one of his 9 heats. 

We were all pleasantly surprised with how well Axel's car was doing with much less fuss over making it this year. His car is the third one from the left.

It appeared most of the pack did a great job at making their cars faster so the races were much closer this year. 

Rubix was very interested in the car races and watched intently for 45 minutes. They took a break for cake which then averted his attention to the basketball hoops. He had so much fun shooting baskets with Daddy. Daddy loves playing with him! 

 Here is Axel with Mike, the Pack leader, receiving his 3rd place trophy.

 Here is Pack 505 with Andrea, Axel's Den leader, on the right and Mike, the Pack leader, on the left. They are husband and wife with three boys in the Pack. Next year their oldest twin boys move to boy scouts, so it will be interesting to see who will be the Pack leader.

Phoenix and Rubix were able to run Axel's gold car from last year after the races were over. They had a fun time participating as well. 

Axel continues to participate in the weekly basketball clinic at Harker on Saturday mornings. There is just one more week left. He had pajama day and another Eagle buddy day, where his two 10th grade buddies spend 2.5 hours with him, yesterday. I am not exactly sure what the activity was this time, but he brought a book from home for his Eagle buddy meeting. 

We finally finished Phoenix's application to Harker (which means Keith finished doing are taxes too) and now we have the waiting game. We should know by mid March what school she will be attending in the fall. Phoenix continues to thrive and her reading is coming along quickly. I am so impressed and happy for her. She is in a really big art phase right now. She says she wants to be an art teacher when she grows up. She is constantly drawing and making books. The cool thing now is she puts words to her pictures so she feels more accomplished in her book making/writing!

Daddy is in a VERY stressful time. Linear Technology is officially gone and he works for ADI now, which means lots of changes. Now that the first year is over, complete integration is underway. This means changes to groups, finances (significant drops in pay for all LT employees) and potential layoffs. They are projected to move in November of this year to a fancy high rise building in San Jose and sell LT's buildings in Milpitas, which will be the final goodbyes to LT. My heart is so heavy for all of the men who put their heart in soul into making Linear Tech and growing it over the past 35 years. It was such a reputable company and it is so sad to see everything that Keith has worked for slip away right before his eyes. By the time the transition is fully complete in 3 years nothing will be the same. I would be lost if I were in his shoes and Kaiser got bought out by another company and we had to change everything about the way we practice as clinicians. I pray that God will direct him where he is suppose to be and that Keith will have peace wherever he ends up.

We are looking forward to the Super Bowl tomorrow and the Olympics starting next week. We really need some relaxing time as life has been very busy.  Go Patriots! Oh, if the Patriots win again Keith is buying Uggs! Don't ask me why. I am not sure I quite get the connection, but don't be surprised if I post a picture of Keith in his new Uggs! (that is, if the Patriots win) Happy football watching!

Phoenix is 5 years old!

Phoenix started her birthday celebration on Friday at school where she had her "spotlight". The teacher talked about her favorite food, pet animal, book, and things to do. She then showed her friends her 3 year old scrap book and they sang happy birthday to her. 

I am always curious to know what she is thinking when she just stares at me. The exciting news is that on Friday she earned her alphabet crown because she passed the test of knowing all of her letters and sounds. She has earned 3 books at school that she can read. She is absolutely loving it!

Her friend Adella is sitting right in front of her and her friend Kyla is in the front row in a bright pink shirt. These were the two girls from Challenger that she invited to her birthday party.

After her spotlight we went to Party City to pick out balloons and gather a few decorations for her party. We got done surprisingly quickly and had 20 more minutes before Axel was out of computer class at school. The kids decided to wonder into Old Navy. Rubix was intrigued with the mannequin. It is funny that I have a very similar photo of Axel about this age doing the same thing.

The kids always love to have snacks before bed. They usually choose to eat a bowl of cereal. Rubix chose yogurt. I had things to do so I asked Axel if Rubix could sit on his lap. Axel was a champ and agreed to it. It was sooo cute I had to snap a photo! Rubix is a typical boy and rather sit on my lap than in his chair for meals. It is quite frustrating because he will often wait for me to sit down before eating and I rather never sit! I am sure that it is good practice and I need to learn to sit and enjoy more time with the kids rather than think about the million other things I need to get done before going to bed myself. At any rate, I was very appreciative of Rubix being okay with sitting on Axel's lap and Axel agreeing to let him do it.

Here is Phoenix her last night as a 4 year old!

Sunday morning Axel went to the basketball clinic and Keith and I jostled getting things done for the party. The jump house was delivered early, but luckily we were home. I surprised Phoenix with the jump house because we had planned on not having one. When the weather forecast changed and Phoenix talked about how she was going to exclude Aisha from her dollhouse because Aisha was mean to hear at her birthday party last weekend I decided to splurge with the Barbie bounce house. I am really glad that I ordered it because it was used the entire 4 hours that people were over and for the most part helped resolve conflicts. All Rubix has talked about all week is how the jump house is gone. Funny thing is he hardly used it because he wanted to be held the entire time he was in it and I didn't have a lot of time to hang out in there with him.

We also went all out and made a Barbie cake. Keith did the decorating and I made the cake.

We were quite pleased with how it turned out without using fondant. The only bummer thing is the cake itself tasted awful! We have got to stop using this vanilla cake recipe that we have been using for the past several years as it often comes out like dense pound cake, and doesn't taste very good.

Phoenix requested breakfast for dinner so I made waffles and pancakes and had a tray of berries. Phoenix had 2 waffles, Aisha almost finished one and the other girls didn't eat at all. We also made skewers of meat and veggies for the parents who decided to stay for the party. I felt really bad for the parents of the children who didn't eat, but after asking the girls several times and offering different foods, I really didn't know what else to do.

Axel invited Kristin and Selena over to play with to make sure to give Phoenix time alone with her friends without Axel interrupting. Lets just say it took Axel a litte time to understand what that meant. The three older kids had fun in the jump house though, after the younger ones were finished and watching a Barbie movie.

Of course, I forgot to take pictures the entire time until the end of the party. Here is my only picture of the 5 girls. Kyla, Phoenix, Aisha, Adella, and Kira. Kira and Aisha are from Marshall Lane Preschool and we often see Kira at Jack Fischer Park.

We paused the movie to sing Happy birthday to the birthday girl.

Kyla's father, Eric, was kind enough to snap a quick family photo. What a great start to 2018 as we introduced our little girl into the next chapter of her life as a big kid who gets to go to school, be apart of athletics and is now eligible for summer camps. She is excited but nervous as she fights to be "older and bigger" than Axel.

Although we had hoped that Phoenix would only receive books as gifts, two of the girls brought toys. Here is Phoenix playing a game of My little Pony Candy Land with Axel and Daddy before bed. Lets just say it didn't end well as the birthday girl was exhausted from all of the excitement. Both kids cried themselves to sleep and were finally done shedding tears at 9 pm. (Axel was upset he ruined Phoenix's party and Phoenix was crying because Axel ruined her party. Of course, this wasn't true, but a 20 minute event during the party, turned into dramatic tears for both of them.)

Axel has been working hard at preparing his Pinewood Derby car. I unfortunately have not captured any pictures yet, but hope to at the Pinewood Derby on Sunday. Axel did most of the work himself this year. Keith was really proud of him for stepping up and taking ownership.

Yesterday I picked up Phoenix early from school to take her to her 5 year check up. I wasn't sure how traffic was so we left earlier than usual. Well, this was a big mistake as her doctor was running over an hour behind which meant that we waited for almost an hour and a half. Rubix ate every snack I had in the diaper bag and I was very grateful that I had half a dozen! It also didn't help that there was a car accident that slowed us down on the way home. We got home at 6:15pm which made our doctor trip a 3 hour adventure! Oh well! Phoenix weighed in at 34 lbs 9.6 oz which puts her at the 16th percentile. She measured 3 feet 7.25 inches which puts her at the 66th percentile for height. She has matured to the point where she cooperates and communicates well now with other adults like the medical assistant and doctor. I was very proud of how articulate she was with them. I know I have said it before, but I am so pleased with Challenger School. I never thought there would be such a big difference between public and private schools, but you really do get what you pay for, atleast in the state of California!

Sick Days, Phoenix learns to read, Axel joins jazz ensemble

We have all been under the weather with a long lingering virus. Luckily, we are all on the up and up (so we hope.) I am ashamed to say that I really haven't taken pictures since Christmas. I was able to capture a few of Rubix because we have the most alone time together. 

A couple of weeks ago Rubix was asking to get dunked so Keith dunked him. It was fun and cute at the time, but it has been a little challenging trying to explain to him that we can't do this again because it is unsafe. Good thing is he loves this basketball hoop and uses it every day. 

 Rubix is starting to get into building. He wants to build with the duplos legos, train tracks and even puzzles. Axel received an eraser puzzle cube that Rubix really enjoyed trying to piece together himself. It is fun to see him have other interests then balls and cars.

 Axel has been busy getting ready for the Pinewood Derby. Next weekend is the big event. So far the car is cut out and the weights are in place. It took him awhile to decide if he wanted to build a car this year, so we are excited to see him enjoy the process. We have worked really hard over the past 6 months to ensure that Axel knows that he doesn't have to do anything. We want him to learn to enjoy and embrace the activities that he chooses to do. He seems to be coming around and stating that he enjoys activities now rather than us forcing him to go. He continues to play the flute and was invited to join the jazz ensemble. He had a lot of fun going last week and the director says that he is a natural. We were hoping that this would result in him wanting to practice without reminders, but he is still not there yet. I am excited to see how much he grows from joining the jazz ensemble this second half of the school year.

The big news for Phoenix is that she started reading last week. She came home from school with a book that she earned because she was able to read it. She says, "let me blend it, " and then she reads the word! She is really good with short vowel, 3 letter words. For example, bed, red, had, mad, cat, hat, etc. I am extremely impressed that she is already here. I felt like it was just yesterday I was trying to get her to learn all of the letters of the alphabet. I am so pleased with her new school and am excited to see her enjoying learning as much as she is.  And to put icing on the cake, she will be 5 years old on Sunday! I can't believe my little girl is going to be 5!. We have her "spotlight" at school in just a little bit where she gets to talk about her likes and interests and her family. She decided to bring one of her scrapbooks rather than individual pictures. I hope I can take a picture or two because she just opened a box of hand me down dresses and she was very excited about her princess dress that she wore to school today.

Phoenix has her classroom assessment at Harker tomorrow and then her birthday party on Sunday. It is Barbie themed! Her cousin Hannah sent her a bunch of Barbie dolls a couple of months ago and then all of a sudden we have a Barbie lover. I will save the details of her party for the next post. She has her 5 year annual check up next Thursday so I will likely post a blog update next Friday.

I will leave you with the ever growing Rubix whose language and vocabulary continue to amaze me!

God Bless!

A 2nd Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

We were unable to go out to eat during our vacation so we went out to eat at Stacks on Friday the 28th of December. Phoenix had her usual chocolate chip Mickey Mouse pancakes, but Axel branched out and had a bacon, egg and toast meal. Rubix was happy grazing off our plates and going from one side of the booth to the other side of the booth. Keith and I have come to the point in our lives where we are no longer coffee snobs. We drink coffee because we generally like it despite its source. We enjoyed receiving a thermos of coffee and having unlimited cups. I did have a moment where I thought, "Are we too young to be at this point in our lives?" Well, that momentary thought didn't stop me from having a second cup of coffee, but it did hold me back from having a third cup. When I begin to replace coffee for water, I know that I am officially in middle age. I love you Grandpa Burgess (Don)! It was one of my fondest memories to see my Grandpa drink one cup after another, after another. He thoroughly enjoyed it and I love him for that!

On Saturday the 29th we headed to the Jolley's for a small Christmas celebration. Unfortunately, Grandpa Brian was not feeling well enough to join us, but we did enjoy seeing Grandma Susan. Here is cute little baby Aya with Uncle Ryan!

Here are the 5 cousins waiting to open their Christmas gifts. I took about 20 pictures and this was one of the best. Maybe next year! The girls had fun playing dress up and being Princesses as usual. Axel enjoyed spending time with Grandma Susan. I was jealous of how much time he got to visit with her while I ran around chasing Rubix. Rubix had his first fall downstairs. We are not quite sure how far he was up the stair case, but we are sure of the loud thump. This was of course, the one time I decided to not chase after him. Parent fail!

After a wonderful Mexican meal and opening gifts we headed to the park. Grandma was itching to get home and check on Brian and my kiddos where itching to play outside so it was a win, win for everyone. Look at those beautiful blue eyes!

These three are quite the combination. They are either all getting along or one of them is feeling left out. (It is typically one of my children who are fighting over Braylin's attention). Maybe one day they will learn.

I tried one more time to capture the 5 cousins in the same picture. You can see charming Axel again helping out with baby Aya. He still is a sweet, caring boy. After an hour and a half of park play we headed back to grab a snack before heading home. We lucked out with great traffic. Keith and I had an awesome rest of the weekend with three dates! We were able to ride together Sunday and Monday morning and go out to the movies on Sunday night for New Year's Eve. We saw Jumanji. We both can't remember the last time we laughed so hard. It was a really nice change from the serious Star War movies that we have seen in the years past.

Here is Rubix strutting his new outfit that Auntie got him. He is so cute! He truly is the most caring child I have ever met. He gives hugs and love all of the time without prompting. Anytime he sees someone crying or looking down he goes up to them and gives them a hug.

I have been so overwhelmed with the kids, work and the holidays that I have done a horrible job at connecting with friends and family. I feel so bad about not reaching out, but every time I am not consumed by the kids I have my face in a book reading about how to be a better parent, or in the bible seeking guidance or doing something like the blog or their scrapbook or trying to find new recipes. I am totally in my little world. The bad thing is I love my little world. I just wish I had more time in each day to still have time for other people. I am sorry to all of you that I normally call during Christmas! I am still thinking of you despite my poor communication!

We were hoping for our schedules to lighten up after the holidays, but it looks like we are going to be just as busy. We have 4 birthday parties, including Pheeny's 5th birthday, Axel's Pinewood Derby and lots of paperwork to apply to Harker and Challenger for Kindergarten. Despite this business, we try our best to live in the moment and enjoy each day to the fullest. 

We wish all of our friends and family a very Happy New Year!