Happy 6th Birthday!

We celebrated this young man's birthday...6 years old! Whew, time flies!

A little visit

I wish I could share more of this little man. But I can't. He was a cutie that will be with us in our thoughts and prayers for years to come. A fun loving, little cuddler, with a quick smile, dimple and a piece of this mama's heart.

King's Canyon Snow trip!

A little bit of everything; sledding, snowball fights, snowmen and fort building! It was  a very memorable weekend, and the kids are looking forward to another opportunity to be in the snow.

December's visitor

Grandma was here for a week visiting the week before Christmas. As you can see there was some cookie making and reading that happened while she was here, among a few other things. 

Anna was very happy to have her here for her first Nutcracker performance, and of course we enjoyed a little early Christmas too. We always enjoy her visits, and as Ben said "Grandma's visit was toooooo short! She needs to come back."

Nutcracker 2015

A page and a mouse flit through our house the weekend before Christmas; it was quite the sight! 

Anna did a great job in her first Nutcracker performance, 

and she was sorry to see her two performances finish up so quickly. 

Given the opportunity, I am sure she'll be ready for next year sooner then Mom is.

Thanksgiving and Random Autumn 2015

This school year we have learned a lot about early American History, and Native American history was also included. So for Thanksgiving we thought it would be appropriate to skip the Pilgrim hats and make vests (using our imaginations for the leather and bead-work of course).

They have enjoyed a lot of hands on projects this year and it's fun to see how much they retain when there is a tangible item to cement the history in their minds. Weaving, homemade ink and quill writing, wigwams, teepees, Jamestown dioramas, hasty pudding hard tack and yeast risen bread. The cement so far for this year!

Pumpkin Patch Field Trip

A local pumpkin patch had a large (tongue in cheek) selection of pumpkins and a corn maze which we went through as a family. Fun autumn activity. One issue: the temperature was anything but fall-ish. Easily in the 80's.

Random Fall 2015

 Anna and her neighbor friend Suri. They LOVE playing together. 

So blessed to have her two doors down from us!

 Ben, letting his money go to his head. ;)

Having a meal with dry ice in attendance. That's normal, right?

School year 2015-2016

Here we are, starting another year of school! 

 

Anna starting 2nd grade, reading chapter books like they are candy, loving English, ballet, and time with her friends. 

Ben trying out 1st grade, starting to read everything in sight, catching up to Anna in Math, loving his two wheeled (I don't need training wheels any more) bike, and tinkering with his Legos.

Camping at Montana De Oro

The first week of August found us camping at with in ear shot of the ocean. We had a fun time, and a great little camp site. We'll be trying to get back to that gem sometime next year.

A New York Minute

 Not sure where to start with explaining our trip to NY...Sweet time with Family and Friends. Lots of time to soak in the green landscape, enjoyed the rain and thunder storms, and of course did I mention the time with family. We loved being there, and it was really hard to leave...but it does make us appreciate every moment, and look forward to visiting with everyone in the future.

Thanks for the visits everyone. We loved every New York minute.

Mathias and his family!

 Our week with family was very memorable and we so enjoyed sharing that time with them.

Mathias is such a joy to watch and play with...we had the opportunity to see him practicing his pre-walking. He was SO close!!

An Anna week!

 From the pictures it might appear the week was all about Anna...it happened to be her ballet recital and birthday week, so she was doubly excited to have family here ;)

 Anna all ready for her second dance recital.

 Celebrating a SEVEN year old's birthday!

Anna on her new bike, which she was so excited about. 

She was giggling and smiling the whole time. 

Yosemite Weekend

 At the top of Sentinel Dome after a good hike for two starting hikers.

 Dogwood trees in full bloom through out Yosemite. It was a beautiful sight.

 Hummm...a little optical illusion I think.

Checking out the Redwoods after a little hike.

All in all a beautiful long weekend enjoying God's creation and hiking around 10ish miles total. Which for two young ones and an out of shape momma was a victory! ;)

Seriously though, Anna and Ben did a great job hiking. Not to say they were happy every step of the way, but they plugged along and were thrilled with the destinations once they reached them.

Happy 5th!

A lego Birthday for a 5 year old lego lover! 

A new smile.

Here we are, toof-less!

I couldn't help but laugh at her words when she first lost the second tooth. 

She loved pronouncing her "s" with a little more "sssss" then usual, and it sounded soooo funny.

Our version of a snow day...

 Hail! Piling up!

 A central coast snowman. ;)

 Our neighbor's home across the street.

Being home-schooled certainly had it's benefits a few Mondays ago when the kids were going to play outside in the rain and it turned into a down pour of hail! It was pretty amazing to see how much hail could fall in the time the storm came through. Eric happened to be home with a head cold that day so he came out and piled up a bunch of hail for the kids to play in. The pile was there until mid morning the following day. It was a fun memory for the kids, watching and then playing in the hail.