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 

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

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!"

All Girls Sunset Cliffs Adventure

I think there was a bumble bee behind them! lol

All nice and clean and dry...not for long!

Beginning to climb down to the most gorgeous beach ever!!!

She loved this rock formation.  It is all one rock, but looks like patio blocks pieced together.

Enjoying some God time.

This gorgeous place to rest was worth the slippery, somewhat dangerous climb.

Beauty...

Silly Kierce

 

This is some kind of a runoff pathway.  Well, after climbing the ropes to the right, Kierce decided she was going to climb up it until she struggled with finding a grip only three feet from the top.  I was right below them insuring if they slipped they wouldn't fall.  When we got to the top the safe way, she looked over at this slide looking structure and she couldn't believe what she had done.  She was shocked.  She was only looking ahead and not behind, even while getting down.  Not one time did she look back, and she had no idea until that time what she accomplished, now that is a life lesson.

Rowan climbed up behind her to help her get back down.  Kierce shocked both Rowan and me with this rare dare devilish move! 

To be honest, I LOVED seeing this brave side of Kierce.  She is maturing in many ways, and it's beautiful to witness.

Love <3

March and April Fun!

Merrick was invited to Lily's 6th birthday party.  This was the best birthday party we have ever been!  We had so much fun!

They hired the Lizard Guy!  Ooooh, he brought spiders too!!!!

Think this is a big snake?

Look at this one!!! :-)

Yes, I took a turn :-)  The best b-day party ever!

Yes, we are keeping up the dates with each other!  ...and this was the BEST basil curry EVER.

This is probably Merrick's favorite part about playing baseball, and spending time with his dad.  He is not crazy about any organized sport.  I think we might try putting his physical nature to good use and let him try some mixed martial arts classes.

Within two weeks we had all three rats die as well as our new littlest hairless rat.  

R.I.P. - Machi, C-Cow, Rockstar and Nilla

This was a very difficult time, as this was the children's first real experience with death.  We all definitely learned a lot, and grew closer as a family through this experience.

Kierce's school has an annual spring fling every year at her school as a fundraiser.  This year the theme revolved around the Wonderland Theme Park that was located in Ocean Beach in the year 1916.  We all dressed the part, or wore black and white clothing.  It was a great time, they had giant tricycle races, hula hoops and these really cool performers, as well as a silent auction to raise money for the arts program.

Kierce had the opportunity to enjoy the arts program while learning a hip hop dance routine.  Here she is just before the start!

....a quick sunset pic after the festivities!

I occasionally enjoy "trying" to surprise the family with adventure trips.  Usually, at least one of these guys figures it out and the surprise is spoiled.  However, this time they were all stumped until we arrived!  One of my friends father built this arena!

Here we are with our friends Kim and Michelle!  It was an interesting experience to say the least.