Sophia's New Shoes

Sophia has had a little growth spurt and all of a sudden her socks and shoes are fitting her. I am frantically beading new socks to replace the ones that she outgrew and I have been looking for some new closed toe shoes. Well, Sophia and I went shopping and she found herself a new pair of shoes. She LOVED these shoes when she saw them. She has great taste for a 20 month old, huh? Today she wore them for the first time and she was so excited to strut around in her new shoes. Here she is posing with her new sparkley shoes.

My Tic Tac Princess

It’s so funny, but my mom has always carried Tic Tacs in her purse since I was little. I always knew my mom had Tic Tacs. I guess I thought she had them there for Paul and I on those emergency occasions when she needed to bribe us to calm down and be still. Well, years later after Marissa was born, I saw her pull a Tic Tac container out of her purse. Needless to say, my kids now know that their Nana ALWAYS has Tic Tacs in her purse. Actually, one of Joshua’s 1st sentences was, “TIC TAC NANA, TIC TAC!” I have a small variety of Tic Tacs in my top kitchen drawer for my emergency situations, like when I am on the phone, or when I am trying to get the last minutes touches on dinner. Well, my Little Tic Tac Princess has found my stash! This morning she was sitting very quietly on the couch. Quite and a 20 month old don’t make a good combination, so I knew something had to be up. Well, there was Sophia sitting so quietly on the couch, when I snuck up on her and asked…........”What are you doing?” She looked at me and held up the Tic Tacs and said TIT TAT as she waved the container at me. The Tic Tacs have a new home and I have some cute picture of Sophia trying to devour all my stash.

Joshua’s 1st Soccer Practice

I have to say that this has to be one of my favorite moments in Joshua’s life. He was so excited to start soccer and truly gave his first practice a great shot! I cannot believe Joshua is 5 and in few weeks he’ll be starting kindergarten. He’s so ready to learn. He listened so well for his coaches and is truly a team player. Was that really my kid?? If I wasn’t there to see it, I wouldn’t believe it. Here are some pictures of Joshua’s 1st Soccer Practice for his team called the Crocodiles.

The MYSTERY is solved!

This morning right as we were starting to leave for church I called the kids into Joshua’s room. From the window I could see this big ole possum. He was really creepy looking, something I wouldn’t expect to see in our backyard @ 6:45 AM. This guy wasn’t shy and acted like he owned the place. You see, we’ve been trying to figure out why we were finding poop on our grass (wondering if Oreo was getting bold in her old age) and WHO was eating our strawberry plant. I would have never expected it to be a possum. Any how, my neighbor was outside and he asked what all the commotion was about. I told him we had a possum in our backyard and then asked him if he knew how to get it out. He accepted the mission, grabbed his broom and rake and tried to shoo him out. The possum left our yard and ran into my neighbor’s garage! Now he was dealing with a possum on his property. It didn’t take long, but he moved on. Here are some pictures of our Sunday morning visitor. And for now, the MYSTERY is solved.
And my question is: Is it Possum or O'Possum?? Either way it is a creey and onry animal that I care not to ever encounter again. It reminded me of one BIG rat!!

Our Little Birdies!

We have so much fun feeding "our lil birdies." This is a picture of one of our local Finches. We see several at a time on these feeders. They are beautiful little birds that give the sweetest sounds. They are always apprecaitive of their fresh seeds! This particular day they were being camera shy, so I only got a picture of one of them. I guess I'll have to keep trying. We also have a hummingbird feeder in the back yard. My camera is just not fast enough to catch them. Any how, the kids and I are having fun bird watching here in San Marcos.

Bowling Party

The kids got invited to their friends 6th Birthday! They ALL (even Lil Sophia) had a wonderful time! Here are some pictures of them bowling! They had so much fun and din't even realize that they had bowled for a little over 2 hours.
Hapy 6th Birthday, Karina! We had a fun time at your Birthday Party!

Wall-E

Our family went to see Wall-E last Sunday! We all loved it! I won't say anything else, but GO SEE IT!

The Kids Latest

Here are the latest pictures of the kids. They were taken last month at JcPenney's. I always think they do a great job! Sophia was very active and they still got some decent shots. Hope you are all enjoying your summer. These pictures make me want to go to Hawaii!

Look what I made!

I decided one day last week to finally drag out the sewing machine. I have been wanting to make a diaper and wipe holder for months now and was motivated to get it done. My friend Sarah had made one for Sophia so I thought I'd make them as gifts also. I was able to fit one wipe container and two diapers in each one. I have seen these at upscale boutiques and department stores. They are sold for about 18.00. I thought I might make and sell them too. These are my trials. Very Mary Englebrite looking.... and very girly. Of course I'll have to experiment with a boy print too. Just thought I'd share my latest craft project and probably my last one for a very long time.

National Cow Appreciation Day

We were all so excited when we found our favorite fast food restaurant was doing COW APPRECIATION DAY! My kids look forward to Tues Night when the local Chick-fil-a has Kid’s Night. They have a craft and the kids eat free with an adult meal purchase. Needless to say, I’m thrilled to get a free meal and feed my gang for under 10.00 bucks. Well today we all scored. After Vacation Bible School we went with our friends and all wore our cow gear. You see, if you dressed like a cow, everyone that was dressed like a cow would get a free meal. YES, we all dressed like a cow, even me and our cow gear even included a tail! So, we had fun modeling our cow outfits and we truly ate for FREE! THANKS YOU CHICK-FIL-A!!! I have to add that we had the cutest HERD of cows ever! Now let’s MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE on to the pictures! LOL!

Happy 4th of July!

Wishing you all a very nice 4th of July with your family and friends. Marissa perfomed today with her choir group at Webb Park in Rancho Bernardo. That is where we originally found out that that chorus group existed. This was her sixth complete year! So hard to believe that. Joshua and Marissa enjoyed the performance and the activities at the park this morning.
Here is a picture of Joshua on the 4th in 2004



Here is a picture of Joshua and his friend Karina in 2005



I also just loved these pictures from the 4th in 2005:

Braces OFF!

Yesterday Marissa got her braces taken off! Needless to say, I wasn't there to take the pictures I wanted to, but she wasn't supposed to have them actually taken off yesterday. So yesterday, Kevin took her to her "Let's Check to see if the braces are ready to come off" appointment. The orthodontist then told him they were ready to come off. So, she checked her schedule (we thought she'd be coming back in a week), and said they could take them off right then and there. So, here she is...no more metal in her mouth! We had a popcorn, gum, and fruit snack party yesterday in her honor for being such a trooper. Those were the forbidden food for braces. Now she's waiting for her retainer. She should get that on the 14th of July.... and in another year or so, they might be looking at bracing the bottom teeth.

Fresh Fruit- Nana's Apricot Tree and Papa's Peach & Plum Trees

I always forget until summer time how much I love fresh fruit right of the tree. (I have just added Fresh Fruit right off the tree to MY FAVORITES) I remember being a child and visiting my grandmother in San Jose and picking those fresh apricots right of the tree and eating them before I even washed them off. I always knew our summer trip to visit Nana would bring me to her stocked up apricot tree. She always encouraged me to bake and so I often made many apricot pies while we visited. Well, wouldn't you know it...when my mom moved to San Diego, the home she bought had an apricot tree in the back yard. These past couple of weeks have been heavenly for me and the kids because I have now shown them how to raid the apricot tree. They are so excited to go to Nana's House to pick the fruit off the tree. There is just nothing better than a warm piece of fruit right of the tree. I am so happy that my kids are now going to have fond memories of Nana's Apricot Tree, just as I did when I was a kid.
We also have to mention that Papa Bergeron has several fruit trees at his house that we also like to raid! The kids had so much fun picking Papa's Fresh Poppies yesterday. Joshua used to call Papa's Peaches Poppies so we still call them that. They also got to pick fresh plums off the tree. Papa has an apricot tree, but it didn't produce this year. So watch out...next year the crop will be plentiful! We cannot wait to RAID Papa's trees! Thank you to Papa Bergeron and Nana for letting us invade your trees!
Here are pictures of Papa's Peach and Plum Trees:

Daddy's 40th Birthday BASH!

We had so much fun celebrating Daddy’s BIG 4-0! We started off by painting the window of the van with the words “Happy 40th Birthday, Daddy! HONK for the Birthday BOY!” We wrote the BIG 4-0 on the side windows and wrote many 40’s all over the other windows. He got many honks and many people made compliments on the van. The kids and I got a kick out of it. My friend Sarah painted a Happy Birthday sign and we put that above the garage. EVERYONE in the neighborhood knew Kevin was now 40! Thank goodness Daddy was a great sport!
We celebrated dad’s birthday by going on a quick trip to Palm Springs with some very dear family friends. So, we were off….4 adults and 6 kids to the Rancho Las Palmas Resort in Rancho Mirage. You’ll have to check the place out at: www.rancholaspalmas.com. It was very kid friendly and had water slides and a lazy river. Everyone had a wonderful time. We spend the majority of the time in the water as the temperatures reached 116 degrees! We would highly recommend the resort for families with children. They also have a Tranquil Pool for those that wish to vacation without being splashed by the kids….so if you go and have no kids, check that out. I walked by that pool a few times and it really seemed relaxing.
Here are some pictures from our very fun and memorable weekend!