Wednesday, August 19, 2009

First Grade or BUST!

Today marks the first day of First Grade. Jacob woke up with bells on, was excited and couldn't wait....he has a new teacher, friends from baseball and Kindergarten in his class. In fact, he chose to sit at a table of 5 other boys, all of which he knows...so I am sure that table will be switched soon.

So, here is the lesson I was taught today; when you are First Grader, no more naps, they already know how to read - so what more is there to learn, and you get to eat lunch later than the Kindergartners. Sounds good.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Time Flies...and we are not getting older....

19 years ago today, I hopped, skipped, jumped, ran, and even jogged down the isle to say 'I Do', today I say 'I Still'.

Friday, July 17, 2009

VACATION!

10 DAYS - 2 Cases of wine - Late Nights - Great Company - Good Eats - Fun - Michigan Ocean - Cousins - Aunts - Uncles - Nephews - Nieces - Date Night - Sand - Beach - Pronto Pups - Sculpture Gardens - Water Taxi's - Navy Pier - Chicago - Sky Scrappers - Ikea - Shopping - Michigan Avenue - Lego Land - Millennium Park - Taxi Cabs - More Shopping - More great eats - Lot's of Laughs - Bicycles - Parades - Fireworks - Baseball....

SUCCESS + Photos = PRICELESS!

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Summer is here and the time is right.....

WOWSA - it's been over a month since our last post. Where is the time going? Seems like it's slower than snails this week, but when I look back at photos over the past several weeks, seems like it has whirled by.

Where to start, where to start. Well, we left off with the ending of the school year, baseball, soccer, karate, and final dance performances....that seems like so long ago.

Since then we have started summer school (which btw, is almost over), played so much fun baseball, baseball pool party, had a birthday, a birthday party, went to professional baseball game, visited with friends, had friends over, and planned the rest of the summer....can we say slumber parties, vacation bible school, vacation, holiday with lots of sparklers, cousins, karate, soccer and swimming.

So, kindergarten ended with a bang...you know becoming a first grader is a big deal. Apparently you run faster, eat more, have a later recess and get to bring your very own snack each and every day. Jacob started first grade summer school and is diggin' it. It's such a great program. They have a home room that they go to each morning and learn a different topic each week, then after lunch they go to three different electives for the afternoon and switch after two weeks time. The electives Jacob chose this year were Get Movin, Tech Treasures, Super Summer Science, Spectacular Sports, Music Mania and Got Games. He has at least one friend in each one of his classes, so it's just one large play date for him. I am going to be sad to see it end, but must admit...happy that we won't have to get up and movin' each day so early. Summers are hard, stay up late....get up early, makes for some grouchy kiddos each day.

Baseball has ended for the summer - Jacob was the ball player, Robb helped coach the team, I was the scorekeeper, and on occasion Isabella was the bat girl. I am so proud of this team and Jacob. We started the season at our house not knowing that you put your glove down to bat and ended playing the catcher position and lovin' it and becoming a pretty good hitter. Although next season he has told us he wants to play pitcher. The season actually ended last week, then we had a season ending tournament to fight for the championship. It was an elimination of the best of three games, so when you lost you were done. We played a game on Saturday and won so we advanced to the next game, which was played on Monday night in 100 degree weather. It was one of the best baseball games I have ever been to - professional or other wise. It was intense and the boys were having so much fun. I think the parents were biting their nails and pacing back and forth (at least the 100 times they asked me the score). You see, we played a team that has been undefeated this season and been together for 3 years, has all the best equipment and wares, and has no less than 7 coaches. Yep, three years. Mind you, this is our first real season and at times looked liked the Bad News Bears, and most of the boys on the team were in the same shoes. Some of us didn't know how to hold a bat when we started in April. I also have to add, when we played them the first time this season we didn't score one point against them and they scored 10. Well, these boys dug down deep and played with all heart. They played an exceptional game. They kept this team on their toes, went into extra innings because of the need to break a tie, played an extra 30 minutes into the next games time, and only lost by 1 point. Final score
12-13 - them. IT ROCKED! Actually was told by the other's team coach, we were the best team they were up against this season and they were sweatin' it out. Wait til' next year, we are only going to improve. Did I mention, I love baseball, especially at this age, because they love it. Jacob loves it so much, we play a lot of 'pretend' baseball inside the house. We even attended a professional game and have plans to hit another professional game on vacation.

Karate is going great and still continuing on. We have taken our summer activities to one per child until the fall. We all need a break in this house and wanted time to swim, take out the boat, and just have some fun around the house and with friends.

Isabella turned 4, had a birthday party and is learning to ride a bike. She invited 10 of her closest friends over for a chef/cooking party. We cooked our hearts out. The girls came over for lunch and helped prepare a healthy fun kid friendly lunch, while making it a little fun playing some games. It was great. The kids did so well and actually ate their lunch and couldn't wait to decorate their cakes. I must say, I would do this again in a heart beat. She has also been a great cheerleader and bat girl for Jacob's team and I think enjoyed going out to the park as much as we have. She also is swimming like a fish, she can stay right up with the boys when she is in the water. In fact, it's hard to get her out of the water.

Other than that, we are just livin' life, attempting to stay cool, and gearing up for vacation next week. Until next time, enjoy yourself, get your sweat on, and go outside and play.


Last Day of Kindergarten for Jacob.




Cooking adventures!


Workin' on the boat.


Resident Chefs!


Hey Batter, Batter, Batter - SWING!


Take me out to the ball game....

Monday, May 18, 2009

More going on's to report...

School is almost out and the Teacher’s are ready to let the Monkey’s out. I am “one of those mom’s” who loves summer vacation. I know, I know, give me a week or two and I will be asking when does school start up again, but I love the thought of now having every minute of our day planned and actually having a day off or two during the week. 3 ½ days left and Jacob will be officially a first grader and Isabella will be a pre-K student. WOW! Time has gone by fast.

Speaking of time, it’s been a while blog and I have photos to prove it. That’s how I will continue with this post – a photo essay of the past few weeks. Enjoy!

Since I last posted Jacob turned 6. It’s hard for me to believe that he is already 6years old. Time flies by so quickly. What a year we have had. He started Kindergarten not knowing the entire alphabet, now he is reading to us at night, plays sports, has sleep-over’s, and this summer has a goal to learn how to ride his bike with only ‘two wheels’.

We celebrated his birthday at home with our family and of course with cake, ice cream, presents, and dinner of his choice. He wanted to go out to eat this year and picked ‘Olive Garden’. Isabella insisted on making his favorite cake which according to her was chocolate cake, white frosting, with strawberries – so I obliged. He also wrote a birthday book at school and had to read it to all of us before opening presents. It such a great feeling hearing your child read.







Then over the weekend we picked up some of his friends (6) and went bowling and out for pizza. It was a lot of fun. The kids were great and Jacob had so much fun. Parents, I recommend doing this…it was little work, didn’t have to clean my house, the boys all stayed busy, and seemed to have a great time. Then at bed time took them all home exhausted and ready for bed.





Jacob has also started baseball. He is on a great team of boys which most of from his class at school. The coaches are wonderful (Robb is one of them) and we are now eating, sleeping, and drinking baseball. In fact have a few major league games planned to attend over summer vacation.



Sports, Sports, and more Sports for our house. Soccer is going great. It’s so much fun and again, we got in with a great organization. It’s on Saturday mornings and they have practice first and then play a game with three on three. I really should tape a game because she is so small out there, she laterally has to get behind the entire ball and put her entire body behind it just to kick it. We couldn’t even buy matching cleats, shin guards, and shorts with her team because they didn’t carry her size this year. So we made do with what we found and she doesn’t seem to mind at all. It is so fun to watch. She calls it her ‘baseball practice and game’ like her big brother.



Jacob also finished his Kindergarten school year with a musical performance at school. They did a production of the Little Red Hen where he played a seed. I think he was the best seed it. Cute, cute, cute and I still hear him from to time sing some of the songs.



On May 9 we celebrated our Metcha Day. This is the day that Isabella was placed in our arms and we met for the first time. It’s hard to believe it’s been three years. She has changed so much over this time and turning into a wonderful, funny, beautiful, smart, little girl. We are so lucky.

2006


2007


2008


2009


Jacob has been working hard in Karate and tested a couple of weeks ago for another belt color. He did it. Last week we were at the exhibition/ceremony and he was handed a green belt. He started off with white, then earned a yellow belt, and now up to green. He loves karate and wants to continue working on his craft.





Then our last thing we have done and been up to is Isabella had a dance performance this past weekend. She has been involved in a tap/ballet class since last September and this was her year end performance. All the girls looked so cute and had so much fun. Isabella has made many friends and we look forward to next season. It was truly an honor to see them dance and how they have worked so hard through-out the school year.











Other than that, we are just preparing our summer plans, keeping up with our activities, continue to unpack and take care of our house, and enjoying our time we have together.

Monday, April 27, 2009

Run Forest, RUN!

WOW – seems like I start most of our blog posts…but that’s all I can say about 2009…..it’s right up there with Rock Star status! Okay, okay, maybe not ROCK STAR yet, but it certainly is SUPER STAR!

Set out a few goals for this year and am hitting some of them…..and feelin’ really good. They weren’t impossible things, but stayin’ on track is tough. One of my goals was to turn 40….well, I did that one. I know, it was coming regardless if I wanted it to or now, but on January 1 when we wrote our goals down, I needed at least one to be able to check off the list at the end of the year.

Another one for me was to sign up for a race (not to run but possibly walk and jog it), set a time limit to finish, and of course FINISH it. Let’s back track a bit, if you know me…you know I am not a runner, you know I am not of an ideal weight, hell, as of January 1, I wasn’t even physically active (although working on that one and discovering, I might be liking it)….

Well, this past Saturday was the Trolley Run. It’s a 4 mile race that benefits the visually impaired in our local town. WOW! I have such an admiration for runners, hell, even fitness walkers. That is some tough work and if memory serves me the first woman to cross the finish did it in less than 21 minutes – that is 5.25 minutes a mile. WOW!

Turned out to be a great, great, day….no rain, wasn’t to terribly hot, and had a slight breeze every so often. IT WAS AWESOME! I DID IT! I finished. I even beat my personal time goal by almost 7 minutes. I am so darn excited. Did the race with 3 other girl friends…all of whom are not runners, trying something new…and we all did it. I am so damn proud of these girls. So, because of that, we are doing a 5k on Mother’s Day. Still decided I am not a runner, but am going to do these sorts of things from time to time to keep it interesting. YEAH US!





Last week was also ‘take your child’ to work day. So, Jacob went to work with Robb in the morning. As you can imagine with the sense of creativity that Jacob has, we had to do everything just like dad, the ‘worker guy’. From dressing like dad, had to have coffee (albeit hot chocolate) in a to-go cup, blackberry on his belt, and ID card to get in the building, and a pen on his shirt. He insisted that he also went out to lunch for business talk. So, Robb being the great dad he obliged…and I even got invited to said luncheon. We talked business, and it was great seeing them interact with one another.



Last, but certainly not least…Isabella had her first Soccer game. The girls were so cute. She had so much fun. Although, I think she is in it for the gear, because she posed for the camera way to many times as the ball would go right by her. She even told us last night her favorite part of the entire weekend was Soccer Day.







So, this week....SUCESS, FUN, ADVENTURES, and lookin' forward to the next. Until next time....ENJOY!

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Where oh where have we been!



Wow - Can't believe it's been a whoppin' 23 days since we last met. Way to long, but a lotta fun goin on.

Hmmmm, let's see...we left with Robb's birthday!

We spent Spring Break in the lovely state of Colorado. Visited with Friends and Family and did a lot of firsts. We played tourists for a couple days, played golf a couple of days, took in some skiing for a couple of days (our first time ever with the exception of Robb) and then did a bit of retail therapy. Loved skiing and can't wait to go again and next time I am going to try snow boarding. Great Spring Break was had by all.

Got home just in time for Easter. We were dying eggs at 10:00 PM Easter Eve. Everyone was wired from our long trip home, so we had some fun. Easter day was a quite one for us this year, unpacking, laundry, cleaning, and preparing to get back on track, but we made a nice family dinner and enjoyed each other's company. Oh yea, the Easter Bunny did find us at our new house.

Somewhere along the line, I turned the big 4-0! I went kickin and screamin'. We were in Colorado on the actual day. It was some great fun, surrounded by family and lots and lots of yummy food. I got lots of cards and phone calls from friends back home. Then last weekend went out on date night to celebrate again with lots of friends and their hubbies.....all I can say is.....GREATEST TIME EVER - OMG - We laughed so hard, drank way, way, too much (probably been 10 years since I have seen a room spin), danced anywhere our feet would take us, a little karaoke with our thumbs, and stayed out way, way, too late. Fun times - and can't wait to do it again. With friends like you all, I would do it again in a minute and am looking forward to the next 40 years. Not to bad being 40 - seriously, I have done some great things in 2009 and it's going to be a great year. What's next, maybe a tattoo, a piercing, how about blue hair? Who knows!

Been makin' a lot of changes and doing a lot of firsts in our house and it's been fantastic. Everyone is happier, enjoying life, and even getting some relaxing done. Not takin' things so serious. It's all good.

Jacob is on his first baseball team. He is doing so well and loves it. We went to the batting cages last week for some practice and he did so well. WOW! Where did that little boy go.

Isabella is on a soccer team and can't wait to go. She calls it her baseball practice. We have (2) rain out days, so she doesn't really understand it all as of yet....but she is excited.

Robb is busy working hard at work. He plays on the weekend with his lawn, in his garage, and now his boat. Yep, I said it....BOAT. It's a small family touring boat that his grandfather made in the 80's. New hobby and everyone can't be more excited.

As I mentioned above, I am doing well. Busy, busy, busy, makes me happy, happy, happy.

Stay tuned for all our adventures and firsts coming up.....cool stuff, birthday to celebrate, baseball games, soccer games, and more.

Monday, March 30, 2009

My old man is gettting old....




Nooooo - Just joking Robb! This past weekend we spent the weekend celebrating Robb's birthday. It was a great weekend.

Started on Friday with a date night and having two other couples joining us for what could possibly be the best dinner I have had in years. Seriously, it was a great restaurant, wonderful company, and great time had by all.

Robb wanted to spend the day Saturday with the family, so the kids made him breakfast of his choice - Egg's Benedict. Then we played the entire day. The kids made him his cake of choice - Chocolate Mayo cake with cream cheese frosting from scratch. Great little bakers they are. We ended the night with making Sushi night. It was a lot fun, yummy, and the kids ate great.

Oh yea, forgot to mention the snow and ice storm that occured on Saturday.

Then we ended the weekend off with a BBQ with friends and family at the house. The snow melted, Robb smoked some Pork Loin, and we had a fantastic time.

Great weekend!

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Karate Tournament and more....







Hmmmm, been a busy time here. Looks like it might actually be spring, so we are enjoying some wonderful time outside. We even unpacked a box or two, hung a couple more pictures, sorted the garage AGAIN, started baseball season, and attended our first karate tournament.

Jacob participated in his first karate tournament today. He participated in the strongest punch, strongest kick, fastest kick, fasted punch, and a stanger danger drill. He did fantastic. He got one silver medal and 4 golds. He was so excited. You couldn't wipe the smile off his sweet face. Then Isabella was our resident cheerleader. She kept yelling 'go Jacob, go Jacob' amongst the 200 kids.

Great times and great fun.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Top of the O' Day to ya!



Happy St. Patricks Day!

We woke up this morning to what we can only assume was a pesky little Leprechaun. He ransacked the place and turned our milk green (the entire gallon). It's crazy!

Jacob thinks that he came in the middle of the night to look for gold. Since there isn't any here, he got mad and turned our milk green and the place upside down.

Isabella thinks he went next door after our house.

Then Jacob discovered the green chocolate muffins that were left behind, therefore, they both enjoyed having that little pesky guy visit our house while they were sleeping.

Enjoy!