Sad

I just love the imagery Aidan used to describe sad. My 7 yr old never ceases to amaze me.

Halloween thru the Decorating of our Christmas Tree and all in between....a recap

Suddenly it came and went...that's how I feel about Halloween. There was this huge build up to it, the sewing of the costumes, decorating the house,
carving of pumpkins, baking of cupcakes. Then came the school parties, ,

Halloween parades,


trick or treating and it was all over, just like that.


Soon after Halloween, was Aidan's Feast, at school.



It was a reenactment of the first Thanksgiving feast with the Pilgrims and the Wanpanogs. An amazing event, where all the 2nd graders and parents were dressed and reenacted the whole event, speeches and all, at a nearby redwoods park. Aidan was Squanto and gave a speech of how he came to be part of the feast. The kids with the help of parents, prepared a feast that included, duck, lobster, clam chowder, rabbit stew and johnny cakes with gingerbread for dessert. The kids participated in time appropriate activities and games. It was an unforgettable event that took so much coordination and effort making it hard to believe it was a school event.




There's also been several cub scout events, from food collection for a local food bank, to hikes, and ice skating, and several den meetings in between. Initially, we had some reservations about joining the scouts but it's turned out to be enjoyable as well as educational for us all, despite the busy schedule.

Thanksgiving, another blurr (this was the peak of me feeling ill, anemia) which for some reason we have absolutely no photos. I feel sad about this, not sure how it happened, it's as if it never happened. But, the truth is we did have a nice Thanksgiving at my brother's followed with a belated Thanksgiving celebration at our good friends Jimmy and Conny's. You'll just have to take my word for it, we all enjoyed it.





The first weekend of December we got our Christmas tree. Unfortunately, the picking of the tree was not the "Norman Rockwell" moment I would have liked it to be. It turned out to be stressful chaos amongst a crowd of people. But, the end product was lots of fun, with the boys help, we had our selves a pretty little tree.

Stay tuned for more Christmas time fun. I know it's late, still playing catch up here.

Passing Me By

Life's been passing me by for the past couple of months. I've just felt exhausted, barely able to keep up with my day to day tasks with very little energy to do anything extra. As you've noticed, no energy for a little blogging. I'm almost always in the middle of a good book, reading before bedtime, but lately I've just not had the energy for that either. It took 5 weeks of feeling this way before I decided I needed to see the doctor ( that and I noticed i was shedding much more hair than I was comfortable with). It turns out I'm severely anemic. A trip to Pharmaca and now I'm taking a horse dose of iron in hopes to take care of this without IV infusion. Two weeks into it, can't say I'm feeling much better but I'm hopeful. In the meantime I'm just trying to keep up with the holidays. I'll be posting a recap of all that's been happening here, just trying to catch up.

Ghosts Are Ready For a Party

Made these fun ghost cupcakes for Aidan's classroom Halloween party. I got this idea from this months Food Network Magazine. Super cute and super easy... Chocolate cupcake with a lollipop and a circle of white fondant draped over it, dab on a couple of eyes and your done! Hope the kids love them tomorrow.

Superhero Cakes for my Super Heroes

Miles and Liam asked for Spiderman and Batman cakes for their 5th birthday party. This is what I made. That Wilton ball cake pan sure has come in handy...no I haven't made a soccer ball or basketball but I've made an angry bird and now Spiderman. As for Batman can you see where I got my inspiration from? Yup! Liam's shirt. They sure were thrilled!

Angry Birds Face Paint

Since we've been on the topic of angry birds for awhile (surprised this phase or shall I say craze has stuck around for sometime now) I thought I'd share this photo. We went to a birthday party awhile back that had a face painter and of course Miles asked for an angry bird. He was just thrilled with it. I'm surprised he let us wash it off. I have to admit it was pretty cute and simple.

Angry Bird Hell

I'm in angry bird hell! If I had only ordered those costumes back in September, I wouldn't be doing what I'm doing now....that is making angry bird costumes. Thankfully a kind friend (who was smart thinking and ordered in September) had an extra green piggy to pass on to us, that means I only have to make two. Here's one down, the green bird. We're having some technical difficulties with it, specifically a droopy beak and droopy feather top. We used a bit of fishing line to hold it in place, let's just hope this holds up. Oh and it is a bit big for Aidan but we'll just have to make do. Now I'm on to bird two, a black bird. Will let you know when it's finished, let's hope before Halloween or Liam just might end up being Batman.

Mr. Sparkles

Every year we add a new item to the Halloween decor. In the past I've let the kids pick it out but this year was different. In late September the boys and I were taking a walk past a newly decorated store window, all ready for the Halloween season, when Liam gasped and had to show us all the cool skeleton in the window. He especially liked how it sparkled. That's my boy, if it sparkles and shimmers or thumps to the beat of club music he so loves it. So we all stopped and admired it, everyone agreed it was really "cool" (Aidan's latest attempt at using slang). We continued on to our destination ( which was donut holes at the donut shop, shhhh!) and all was forgotten. I went back later that day to buy this beloved skeleton, brought him home and safely hid him. When it was time to decorate our home for Halloween, I pulled out that skeleton and Liam once again gasped, announcing "Sparkles!" So this years addition is now, "Mr. Sparkles"....so hauntingly adorable.

They Play Well

I never thought the day would come when my 3 boys would play well together, a time when they could play a good hour and a half without me needing to step in to referee some form of disagreement. But, it's true, my boys do play well together now. They can spend time building, all in agreement with what they want their ( yes I said their meaning all 1,2,3 of them) final outcome to be. Its so nice to hear them work out their plans, resolve a disagreement, and to finally agree together. And when they do that, little forts of army men like this are built. If only it could be like this all the time.

I Think I've Managed to Overcome our Homework Struggle

It's been a long time since I've posted I've been trying to figure out how to manage school and the homework struggle. We've been in school for a couple of months now and I think I've finally found the answer to this trick....thank goodness! By week 2 of school I felt like I was walking a tightrope when it came time for homework. If I didn't get it balanced out soon, I was doomed for misery the rest of the school year. I just didn't know what the best way to manage it was. Aidan now in 2nd grade has a significant amount of homework. Despite the fact that it's really extremely easy, more a test of patience for Aidan since he's been doing this stuff since he was 4 yrs old, he still has difficulty getting it done because of the mere fact that it's totally boring. I tried to explain to him how he could get it done in 5 minutes if he would just focus. Unfortunately, this doesn't seem to matter to him. The added struggle has been his brothers' distraction. Trying to send them to their room until Aidan is done with his homework proved unsuccessful. Boys get rowdy and Aidan wants to know what they're doing. So, I've started assigning homework (preschool worksheets and art projects) to Miles and Liam so they are doing homework along side Aidan. In the beginning there were a few objections from Liam " Homework, why do I have to do homework!?" Most recently, they've fallen into the groove and know the drill now. They sit together and do their homework. Aidan gets to focus and get his work done, with a little bit of struggle, giggling and joking, as well as correcting his brothers homework (have to remind him that's not his responsibility). With a bit of redirecting homework gets done, not as quickly as I would hope but it's coming along. The only problem now, is homework for three just means I'm getting pulled in 3 directions at once "Mommy how do you this? Mommy Is this right? Mom why do I have to do this?". Which clearly I know this is what my future holds once they're all in school but I'm just not ready for it now. Or maybe I will never be, so I need to figure out how to balance this out so I can make it across that tightrope in one piece, with my sanity.

Aidan's Angry Birds Bash

For Aidan's 7th birthday party I was originally thinking, pirate party with a treasure hunt at the park, but Aidan made it clear that wasn't what he wanted. He of course wanted his latest obsession, an Angry Birds party. So we had an Angry Birds Bash that included a real hands on angry birds game.

It took me several weeks but managed to pull it together, with lots of paper mache, cardboard, paint, and glue. We had 3 paper mache green pigs that were filled with candy, pinata style, a golden egg, a working structure, and small angry birds(paper mache balls) to knock it down. The kids had a blast, and we kept changing the structure to represent different levels. The kids played until the green piggies broke and in came the mob for the candy( lesson learned, not enough candy leaves an unhappy mob).

Cake time was two angry birds, one vanilla one chocolate and some green piggy cupcakes. I uses this great Wilton sports ball cake pan and lots of fondant to make these red birds.

Party favors were some fruit rope tied up with an angry bird. Although, I was worried initially when Aidan asked for an Angry Birds party, I have to say, I think this was by far the best birthday party we've thrown so far. I bet Aidan would say the same. The gorgeous day and great location helped too! It was our first time reserving a picnic site at this park and I'm positive it wont be our last.

Bopping With Bones

As the boys get older, it's really fun getting to know them more as they form more opinions, likes, dislikes, and interests. Liam has always been the most flexible, of the bunch. I just discovered a couple more tidbits about Liam that surprised me. Liam is a club music loving, bones player

My peanut has never been a big game board player. He'll join in when we're all playing but he'll usually fizzle out halfway through. Fizzle out doesn't mean he just fades away to do something else. Most often, he'll try to out an out end the game, either with disruption or coercion, in attempts to gain his brothers interest in something else. It never works, it usually ends with moaning and groaning about something being boring before he moves on. I love games, so you can imagine how disappointed I was to think soon Liam wouldn't be joining us at all for family game night ( I look forward to the days when we're playing scrabble or pictionary instead of zingo and sorry).

To my surprise while cleaning out some of Aidan's old things, we came across a Diego Dominoes set that Liam showed interest in. He wanted to know how to play then proceeded to play for a full half an hour (he would have played longer) before we had to quit to start dinner. Yay, we found a game he likes. We'll definitely have to add dominoes to the family game night repertoire. Liam likes to play him some bones!


He also loves him some club music. He's all about the pop rock with catchy lyrics. Put on some Katy Perry and you'll see a head bopping smile on his face. So there should be no surprise (but I was) when he asked for some music in the car and the only station I could find was some classic rock playing ACDC's TNT, that he asked "Why's that man yelling on the radio? I want to listen to some music." I explained to him this was music and he adamantly with pure confidence said "No it's not". Yes Liam, it might not be your club bopping tunes but others would call this music.

I'm envisioning our next game night now, us playing dominoes while bopping away to the beat of some Bieber or Gaga. Wonderful!

"Cuddle Talk"

I love my cat, Jeremy. He's one of the family. So when he's sick (upper respiratory infection, for which we just started antibiotics) of course I'm going to give him lots of loving, as I would any one of my kids. So this morning when I was chatting with Jeremy and giving him a pep talk about feeling better soon, I hear Aidan (7 yrs old) say to his brothers (4 yrs old),

"There she goes again with that cuddle talk with Jeremy"

It was the tone that got me the most. If I could see him, I probably would have seen him rolling his eyes. It was that tone you had when you were a teenager and your parents behavior embarrassed you. Yup, you know the one. We've all been there, just not at age 7.

Are Your Kids Angry Bird Obsessed?

My kids are obsessed with Angry Birds. Actually obsession doesn't quite describe what's going on in my household right now, aberration comes to mind. There's a constant conversation about red birds, golden eggs, green piggies, and the like. If that's not going on, then there's the constant badgering of mom for the iphone. Realizing something needs to change before I lose my mind, I decided it was time to redirect this angry bird fixation into other activities...angry bird related of course. Convincing them of angry bird art work was not difficult by any means. Certainly this did not curtail the perpetual discussion of colored varmint that frankly is making me angry now, but it did halt the jockeying for iphone time.....for a moment.

More Summer Fun

The summer fun continues here.



Miles and Liam finished up their summer soccer. Miles was really into it from the beginning while Liam took some time to warm up to it and seemed to finally start playing as the summer soccer season ended. I'm going to have to look into the Fall soccer season now.

We took another trip to Tahoe,



Auntie Sandra joined us on this trip. It was nice having another adult with us to help manage the mob. We stayed in Squaw Valley Village and took several day trips from there. We went to Sand Harbor Beach, about an hour from where we were staying, well worth the drive, Water was amazingly clear and not exactly warm however, tolerable (by my standards that's pretty good). We were lucky that it was a gorgeous day too, low 80's. I most loved the fact that there was a snack bar nearby that was serving yummy soft freeze and shakes equivalent to Dairy Queen, Yummmm! Aidan was fascinated that we had to cross a state line to Nevada to go to this beach. He's now very ecstatic that he can say he's been to Nevada like his friend Parker.

We also enjoyed a little excursion to Truckee where we attended an art street festival and got to enjoy homemade chocolate stuffed marshmallows (yes there was lots of eating on this trip). As well as, spent some time at Tahoe City's beach and playground followed by another delicious meal at Evergreen, one of my favorite restaurants in Tahoe. I'm just glad Max didn't order the quail this time. I just have a hard time seeing that little bird on his plate without thinking "barbaric", just not my thing I guess.

We of course enjoyed lots of swimming at the lodge pool, miniature golf in the village and a scooter excursion on the nearby bike/walk trails adjacent to the Truckee river. Tahoe's definitely a fun place to take your kids with lots of outdoor activities. I'm sure we'll be doing it again in the future.

Since we've been back, we've spent time re-couping at home for a couple of days. Still unpacking and doing laundry, seeming never ending. The amount of laundry a family of 5 creates still is unfathomable to me. In between those chores, we've manage to play some games. Our new favorite right now is


Left Center Right card game. So easy that we can all enjoy, amazing as lately I've found it difficult to find games that my 4 yr olds can play/enjoy while keeping my soon to be 7 yr old entertained as well (no grumbling"this is for babies").



After some re energizing , we finally made it out and spent the day playing miniature golf at Golfland. Aidan's pal Parker joined us. You might be thinking, OMG 4 young kids in tow....however, what I've realized, it's actually much more pleasant to have a friend Aidan's age join us, it keeps him entertained and reduces the bickering amongst brothers. We ended the day with some play time in the arcade. It's amazing to see the effects those flashing lights have on the boys, they're mesmerized by it all. And although there were many failed attempts to win a plush angry bird with the claw ( I'm convinced it's impossible, the plush toy probably weighs more than the claw is able to hold) we still ended the day with lots of hoots and hollers "That was a fun day, Mom" what I'd like to call a success.

Still a bit of summer to go, I'm hoping we have more summertime adventures to update you on. Hoping you're all enjoying your summer too!

(more summer photos to come, been technically challenged with the mac and photos still all these photos are from my iphone, I know, don't roll your eyes)

Summer Camp In The Woods

Aidan's last day at camp with his pal Parker. He had a great time at camp and is already making plans for next year. We are very fortunate to live near gorgeous redwoods where the boys spent their days, hiking, swimming and enjoying outdoors science projects. There's nothing more satisfying than to see my child truly enjoying himself.

Happy Anniversary

8 years ago today we tied the knot. Like all couples we have our ups and downs, more ups than downs, what makes us work is that we know each other well, we know each other's needs and know how to work it out... we LOVE each other, so here we are still going strong! Happy anniversary dear hubby.

A Dazzling Summer Thus Far!

It's been a whirlwind of a summer with 5 more weeks to go. Hard to believe so much time has passed already. We've been having a fun-filled time thus far.



We took a trip to Tahoe, which was amazing. It was my first time spending a summer vacation surrounded by snow.

We went bike riding, swimming , and had lots of outdoor fun. Don't let the snow fool ya, it was actually really hot out.



There was also time for a round of miniature golf.



The county fair, something I just never thought of going to but a friends told me she was going so we decided to tag along. I'm sure glad we did, the boys had a great time. They rode rides galore, played a few games and got to see the 4H animals. Oh and let's not forget the fair food, snow cones, cotton candy, corn dogs and lemonade, what a super treat! Although, it was a scorching day, this didn't spoil their time.



We made sure to be patriotic as we celebrated the 4th of July along the Marina. We were entertained by magicians, clowns, and music.



And who can resist a picnic with friends during summertime? Not us, what a perfect way to spend time with friends and get some outdoor play during these dazzling sunny days.

We'll be enjoying the rest of the summer with lots more outdoor activities, soaking up fabulous weather. I hope you're enjoying your summer as much as we are.

"Ka-Chow" Screamed the Fans

My boys were keeping track, with help from the oldest of course. They new that the premiere of Cars 2 was June 24th and they weren't going to miss it (as far as they could help it at least). For weeks we've been building up to this moment.....And today it finally happened. We went to the first showing of Cars 2 at a local theatre. Made sure to get there 45 minutes early to get good seats, of which we did.

It was thrilling for all of us, great sound, great animation and a fun story line with an underlying message about friendship that we all enjoyed! Ka-chow!!

Ninja Cake

What's a boy's birthday party without a ninja cake??

I took Aidan to a birthday party today, his friend Cameron turned 7 yrs old. The boy energy at this party was just bursting. And just when you thought it couldn't get any crazier, this clever cake was served, sending all the boys into a frenzy. The cake was the hit of the party!

Serendipity at LHS

A rainy afternoon, cancelled ball game, boys getting restless, the thing to do was go to Lawrence Hall of Science with friends. A fantastic dinosaur exhibit that shouldn't be missed. Sure it was a little scary for the 4 yr olds but still an educational experience.


A climb on the whale,


a visit with a t-rex,


the handling of a hissing cockroach,

and the serendipity run in with my mom's group while being creatively challenged in the ingenuity laboratory building dinosaurs from cardboard, all made for a fun afternoon (a little tiring for the mom's, yet fun).