Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Father's Month :)


Instead of a Father's Day, we went ahead and celebrated a Father's month!  Look at that adorable mustache of his!!!  I am obsessed with it!!!


As you can see Ryan had a blast playing wiffle ball.  Our monthly parties are a great opportunity for fun and activity with friends and family!  He's pretty cute, huh?


Ryan thoroughly enjoyed our family day at the Reuben H Fleet Science Center, thanks to my parents for the year pass.  My three little piggies and one little beaver thoroughly enjoyed the IMAX theater at the center as well.


Ryan LOVED this particular activity.  This center allows you to build a bridge laying down, then use the clear plexiglass to bring it up and allow it to stand free.  Of course Merrick's favorite part was knocking it down!


One sunny afternoon in June, we took a family bike ride to the Mission and Pacific Beach boardwalk.  Then relaxed by the bay after the long bike ride.


...and played a game too!


Our neighbor Alex invited us to the Greek Festival to enjoy her heritage, some dancing and ethnic food.  It was a lot of fun, and these guys really loved the Greek donuts :-)


Recently Ryan and I merged into becoming the property managers where we live.  This allows Ryan to use his handy skills occasionally, and I get to capture his cute smile in the act!



On Father's Day, Ryan had his beauties all around him.  We enjoyed a fun day at the beach...


...and finished the day with a yummy BBQ.


I thought I would add this handsome photo of Ryan with his brother.


We all enjoyed some play time at a friend's birthday party to end the month.

To bring this post to a close, I would like to share that Ryan is the absolute champ for our family.  We appreciate his unique and valuable contribution more than words could ever express <3

End of School Festivities

I have shared a couple YouTube videos in this blog, one of Rowan's orchestra concert and the other is Merrick's choir concert.  I believe the videos will not appear in this email.  If you would like to see the videos just double click on the first picture here and it will take you to our actual blog.  There the videos will appear.


Rowan the professional student, it appears as if she breezes to receive the honor roll every semester.  However, she puts in many hours of homework and gives 100% of her effort to her school work and projects.  High five girl!


Kierce made a self portrait and shared it with us at her end of the year open house.  I just love the words she used to describe herself <3 she is spot on!



Above is the video of Rowan playing the cello in her orchestra concert!  


Merrick was super excited to share his school work gorgeously displayed throughout his classroom at his end of the year open house.  He has grown so much throughout the year, in all areas!


Kierce was honored by having her artwork chosen to be displayed at a local bank.  They had an open house for the families to attend and view their works or art.


Merrick and his friend Nicolaas getting a BIG hug after their end of the year choir concert.  They had a blast!



Above is a video of Merrick singing in his choir concert!  The kids worked very tediously all year on this music.


The day before Merrick's last day of school was a blast!  We both had a blast at his field day, I enjoyed running a station and Merrick enjoyed running around to all of them!  Of course he got the ring on the tail that coordinated boy :-)


Kierce enjoyed her field day on the very last day of school!  She LOVES field day, and I LOVE to see her having fun and enjoying time with her friends!


How fast can we fill up a bucket with water using a spongy ball???  Quicker than you thing :-)


Kierce with a couple of her besties!  It was a great year!


On Merrick's last day of school, they had a GIANT party, with games, food and all kinds of fun!


Here is Merrick with a couple of his besties!


And Rowan's orchestra and band program has an end of the year beach party, so we had a great time all day long celebrating the end of the year!!!


No sleeping in for the Merricks the morning after the last day of school!  Time to start our summer volunteer project bright and early.  Sweeping up the walkway by the beach...it's called the "wall".  We never know what we will see while sweeping.  Last week, the kids and I were in a commercial for KPBS!  Check out our YouTube page to see them!

Friday, May 17, 2013

Mother's Day



Kierce was really excited to give me this giant and very special Mother's Day card first thing in the morning. 


...and she sees me with owl's eye vision, a wrist lazor and fire boots!  How much better can it get?


This was the most precious Mother's Day gift.  Thank you Kierce <3


This was the first year I have had so many surprises on my special day!  (from left to right)  A teapot from my neighbor Alex, she knows I use a pan to boil water for tea often.  She is so thoughtful!  Ryan surprised me with panniers for my bike, so now I can get groceries on my bike without having to stuff my backpack full!  While Rowan went on a field trip to Knott's Theme Park, I went on a longtime promised date with Kierce the night before Mother's Day.  Ryan and Merrick were excited to have a date between themselves.  Well they must have gone on a shopping adventure, when we got home, I saw a bike parked outside that looked unfamiliar.  I was blown away when I realized it was my bike with panniers because A) my sweetie is not big into gift giving B) he usually tells me about a surprise before he can actually surprise me! lol  Needless to say, I was SUPER DUPER blown away.  When the kiddos went on a little trip with my neighbor and friend Alex and Abigail, I had a feeling they had something up their sleeve.  I was right.  The necklace I am holding in my hand was created by them.  They each chose a charm to make a unique necklace for their mama.  I am so, so blessed!     

***
After going to church in the morning with the girls, we relaxed in the park behind our home...well they relaxed, and I did some weeding.


Now Merrick is up...


...and now he is down.


Ryan had a sleepy day on Mother's Day, so this was the perfect place to spend some time.


It was a great day!


...and look at all the flowers I ended up with...so blessed.



And just when I thought all the fun was over, I receive a package in the mail.  My mom and dad sent me a Bill Knapp's white birthday cake, something I have not had in probably 23 years.  Bill Knapp's is non existent now besides selling baked goods in some supermarkets.  Years ago, even when the restaurants were still open, they stopped making the white birthday cakes.  This was my favorite birthday cake growing up, besides my Grandma Long's red velvet cake.  If you dined at Bill Knapp's on your birthday, you could choose between a chocolate or a white cake.  I would always choose the white cake.  A flavor I have craved for years.  Thank you so much Mom and Dad for sending such a thoughtful gift!!!  I love and miss you so much!!!  A dream come true for sure <3 

Monday, May 6, 2013

Cookie Monster Turns 35 & Party in the Park



Ryan wanted pizza for his birthday, so we had fun trying out a new pizza place after picking him up from work!  He was also showered with cookies for dessert, and a membership to the science center!


...thank you Uncle Dave for giving us a date!


Mmm...yummy burrito at a new mexican restaurant.  That's the great thing about coupons, they allow you to try new things!


The cookie monster can be sneaky...


The Party in the Park was very windy, but fun!  Here are some pictures from the event!



...and great to see friends we haven't seen in a while!


Rowan injured her foot playing on her swivel board this week.  Since she is such a healthy young girl, we are hoping it will heal quickly.  





...and I finally caught a picture of the cookie monster in action! lol

Monday, April 29, 2013

Smiles All Around


Kierce was excited to ask her dad if she could go to work with him for "Bring Your Child to Work Day" this past Thursday.  She was blessed with the opportunity to go, and it sounded like both Kierce and Ryan had a great time!  He even had her learning a creative program called Illustrator on the computer. 


Rowan's school was planning a "Walk to School with the Mayor" event this morning.  Here are most of the kids, and some people from some different advocate organizations.  Rowan was a little bummed that the mayor had to cancel, although he did send his right hand man, Bob Filner, to walk with us. 


It was a lot of fun!


...and Rowan won a free brand new street helmet!  Her helmet was getting a little rough, so she was stoked!


When I picked up Merrick from school today, he grabbed my hand and lead me into the classroom to show me where his clip was at on the color ladder.  See his name on purple?  That means his behavior was excellent, and his friend Noah was on purple as well!


Merrick has a sharing project once per month.  This month the sharing project was creating a robot out of recycled, and unneeded materials.  When he first found this box, he took about 3-5 minutes just checking it out, opening it up, then he decided that his robot would open up to expose his insides.  The guts of this robot was really the showcase.


His dad thought it would be rad to make the robot move!  So he helped Merrick fit one of his remote control cars into the bottom of the robot.  Merrick LOVED this, and was so happy to have his dad's help.  Rowan and I helped Merrick along with the decorating.  He was loving all of the attention and getting to use his ingenuity.  He LOVES constructing things!  Some days after school, he will come home and start pulling all kinds of supplies out, or use an item from nature he found on our journey home to inspire him with a creation of some sort.  His forte is creating functional art.  


Kierce made a big decision to let go of her prized nutcracker she had asked Santa for almost a year and a half ago.  Considering that the arm had fallen off, we all thought it was time.  It was fun to capture some silly memories before allowing him to find a new home.


Kierce and the Nutcracker say, "Have a wonderfully, especially nutty week!"