Balog Family

Busy, busy...now it's on to Soccer!

2012-02-12T14:51:00.000-08:00

We have been so busy since the new year began...I'm not sure if we are coming or going sometimes! Our January included Robb heading out to DC for army reserve duty for 2 weeks, from the 8th until the 21st (I think I blogged about all our activites during his trip). Then he was home for a week before I had to leave for Phoenix for a week for work. I came back and he left the next day for his weekend army reserve duties followed by a day's trip to San Diego. It's been a lot! And poor Hannah...the morning he left for San Diego she started crying saying everyone kept leaving and she just wanted us all to quit and stay home! Poor little thing!! If only it was that simple, right? Thankfully, no more trips for me...not sure about Robb but it comes with the territory, as you know.

All that to say, last weekend while he was at army the girls and I had a busy busy weekend! It started off on Saturday morning with the girls varsity soccer game up at the highschool. It was a special game, as the little warrior nation kids (emmakate) were welcomed to come and join in on the pre-game activities in the locker room, sit and listen to the coaches as they spoke to the team prior to the game, they were asked to run out on the field with the players and help set up the field, warm up and stretch out and finally invited to stay and cheer on the Valley girls varsity soccer team. EmmaKate's "big buddy" is a soccer player so she was able to hook up with her and be her little sidekick for the morning. We arrived at 10am and dropped her off at the locker room and then Hannah and I went and grabbed a spot on the field and waited for them to come warm up. It was so fun to watch all the little girls hanging out with these highschoolers who just adored them! We stayed all the way until kick off but then had to high-tail it back to the car, change EmmaKate's clothes into a fancy dress and a big boufont of a hat I made her as she had a birthday party for her best friend at church, Ava, at a tea house.

We drove over to Los Gatos and met up with the birthday girl and all her friends in all their fancy attire - so cute! - and dropped her off for the next hour and a half. Hannah and I then went across the street to Rockbottom Brewery, sat outside and had a nice long relaxing lunch together. I just loved it!! We then picked EK up from her tea party a few minutes early as we then had to jump back in the car, change her out of her fancy dress and into her jeans and boots and high-tail it out of Los Gatos and down to Gilroy for her horse riding lesson. We made it there with a minute to spare so I was quite pleased with myself. We walked into the barn and the girls ran over to greet Teddi, the trainer, and her horse GiGi was there waiting for her. After a great lesson and a great ride, we headed home to greet the Moore kids (Scott and Linnaea) as we were "babysitting" that night so their parents, Amy and Brian, could go to a concert together. It was a lot of fun....we only wished we had more time that night. The kids played, had dinner and a movie, and then it was time for bed sadly. Brian showed up around 11pm to scoop them up and take them back home.

That was the bulk of our weekend. Church the next day and AWANAS that night about sums it up. Fun weekend...but busy, busy!! :)

Here are some pics of the day!!

EmmaKate and her "big buddy", Noelle

Hannah joining in the fun

EmmaKate warming up with the girls

Sitting on the bench watching

My favorite pic of Hannah!!

The coach is handing out treats

A quick prayer pre-game

Go Team!

On to horse riding...and GiGi

Off to the arena

Doing great, EmmaKate!

Hannah watching bath time!

Click here for all the photos of the day!

A New Star on Track & Field!

2012-02-01T11:59:00.000-08:00

As you may or may not remember, we signed EmmaKate up for a program called Little Warrior Nation at her elementary school. This program allows the child (parent) to pick up to 12 after school activities during the year. The activities range from everything from aquatics to tennis, soccer to softball, basketball to baseball, volleyball to track & field...and many more. It gives kids a chance to try out and learn various sports without committing to a season or a team until they find their niche. And then, if desired, can join a team and participate in the later elementary, jr high, and highschool years. It's a fantastic program! We have enjoyed just about everything (less softball - just too boring!!) so far this year.

Last week was EmmaKate's first go at Track & Field. She got to take the school bus from the elementary school to the highschool, along with all the other little warrior nation kids who selected this sport, at the end of the day and join up with the highschoolers who taught the kids the areas of the sport. Hannah and I went up a little early, around 430pm, to watch and pick her up at the end of the day.

It was such fun to see the main field at the highschool and to see what the girls have to look forward to. It has the most incredible view as you'll see in the pictures. She learned and got to participate in everything from sprints to relays with battons to learning the high jump and the shot put. Check out the "highschool" guy who was teaching her the shot put. He was this HUGE guy who just simply made all the kids look like little dwarfs! Amazing what highschoolers look like these days! Certianly dont' remember them being that big when I was there!! And, what impressed me so much was how super nice and caring and supportive they were to each and every child! Incredible group of highshcoolers!

EmmaKate found a new love! She had so much fun that day and she was really good at the events. She has one more Track & Field session in April Actually, it's on her birthday. So, we'll see if she still has the love of the sport as she did this particular day. She still has some tennis to go, a basketball, and a few volleyballs....so, I'll post those when they happen.

Enjoy the pics. I posted a few then put a link below them for the entire set.

Click here for all the photos of the day!

Hannah Starts Preschool!

2012-01-11T11:26:00.000-08:00

Today was a very big day in the Balog house! Hannah started preschool today!!! She has been so excited and so ready since before Christmas and the excitment just kept building until today.

We drove to the school today and she kept saying in the backseat, "Today is MY lucky day!" It was so cute! We got to school and she hopped out and indulged me with a picture in front of the sign, then we headed in. She was so confident and the only thing she asked as we walked up to the door was, "Mommy, what if I REALLY need you while I am at school?" I reassured her that the teacher could reach mommy if needed and that was all the reassurment she needed.

We went in and said hello to the office staff then walked into her new room, The Ladybug Room. We were welcomed by her teacher and shown where her cubby was. She walked right in like she owned the place and made a new little friend before I even left. I am so proud of her! Such a big girl!! Check out the pictures below!

Now, the back story to all this is that Monday night EmmaKate woke up around 10pm sick to her stomach. She and I spent the entire rest of the night on the bathroom floor and she spent most of it sick. Tuesday morning was technically supposed to be Hannah's first day of preschool as she will be going Tuesdays and Thursdays each week. I simply decided that Emma was too sick and couldn't ride in the car and Robb is out of town so....it's just me. We stayed home and Hannah was really great about giving up her "first day" and waiting. I called the school and explained my sad case and they were so great in that they let her start Wednesday (today) and also go tomorrow as usual. So, last night EmmaKate did pretty well. She slept thru the night but woke up and threw up twice. Ugh! She said she was OK and was willing to take Hannah to school with me so we all loaded up, Emma staying in her jammies with a bucket beside her, and headed off to school. She was a total trooper!

We picked Hannah up at 12:30pm and came back home and doing OK. EmmaKate is hanging in there and so far has been able to keep a popsicle down and 2 crackers - woo hoo! I'll keep her home again tomorrow and she and I will take Hannah to preschool again. Hopefully, she'll be well enough for school Friday and none of the rest of us will get this nasty little bug.

So, enough of all that icky stuff! Onto pictures of our newest preschooler!!!!

New Years Eve

2012-01-08T14:37:00.000-08:00

We got home from the Loberg house in So. Cal late on Tuesday after Christmas. Robb went into high gear making his "end of year to-do list" which included everything from getting all the cars serviced, having the gardner come and trim all the trees, having the chimney swept, fixing the screen door, closing out the finances for the year, doing the taxes, and much much more...all in the 3 days before New Years. Amazingly, he got his entire list done much to my surprise!

So, New Years came and this year we were spending it with our dear friend's the Moore's and their 2 kiddos. Amy is my foodie friend and we planned out a 6 course Italian menu for the evening with wine pairings. Check this out:

Aperitivi: Crostini with grilled artichokes, a pesto creme fraiche, topped with shaved Pecorino, Crostini with an Italian garlicy salsa...both served with a Prosecco
Antipasti: Cheese platter with a soft creamy Italian cheese and a hard Italian cheese...served with Adelaida Pavanne.
Primo piatto: Risotto ai fungi...served with a Hanna Pinot Noir
Secondo piatto: Bistecca alla fiorentina (grilled steaks drizzled with good olive oil and a squeeze of lemon), side of sauteed chard with garlic...served with a Picchetti Cabernet
Insalata: Simple farmer's greens
Fruit/cheese plate: Oranges, marcona almonds, cheese (just one hard cheese) drizzled with honey....served with a sweet Picchetti dessert wine.

Our dinner lasted over 7 hours!!! It was amazing! I had gotten all the kids a goodie bag of New Years Eve treats. Everything from party horns, to noise makers, to necklaces and confetti. It looked more like Mardi Gras but they didn't care! We celebrated New Years just after the Antipasti course and made just a heck of a lot of noise!!! The Moore's had brought sleeping bags for the kids so we put all the little ones down in between the Primo piatto and the Secondo piatto. They all went sound asleep and we enjoyed a lovely evening that ended around 1:30am...with a little Wii thrown in at the end! It was GREAT but I tell ya...Robb and I both said the next morning, "we are so old!!!" Staying up that late just simply hurts the next day! Wow - how did I do that in college!?!? Definitely one of our best New Years to date!!

Happy New Years!!

Our Christmas!

2012-01-07T16:03:00.000-08:00

Yes, I know. It is what the second week of January and I am just now posting about our Christmas! For whatever reason, this season seemed to be packed and busy with one thing right after the other...all fun of course, but I have been left with no time to just sit and work on my photos and blog or anything else. So, here we are now on January 7th and we just got back from a hike to Del Valle with the girls and the dogs. The dogs are exhausted and sound asleep. The girls are out in the backyard sifting thru their "treasures" they collected on our hike. Robb is in the kitchen about to attempt to make beer for the first time. And, I am finally getting a few moments to actually post pics of our Christmas and New Years.

So, Christmas was super fun this year!! It was my parents turn at the holiday and we had all planned on meeting down at Robert's (my brother) house in So. Cal for Christmas. Sadly, my parents ended up not being able to come out due to my dad's recent knee surgery but Robb and I went ahead on down to spend Christmas with them.

We left Friday morning before Christmas as EK didn't get out of school until that Thursday. We headed south with a pit stop for lunch at Tobin James winery as usual. We got in to Thousand Oaks right around 3pm just in time to see Katherine before she had to go off to work at Williams Sonoma. The kids were extatic to see each other and so we just ordered pizza and hung out and let them play that evening waiting for Katherine to get home after her shift. Saturday, Christmas Eve, we got up and Katherine had to go back in to Williams Sonoma for the early shift so we just let the kids play at the house until it was time to get ready for the Christmas Eve service at 3pm. We got all dolled up - the kids looked simply adorable!! - and we went to the early service so we could get back for our traditional "Eve" dinner which consists of fresh crab legs, sourdough bread, and a lite salad. It's a very No. Cal New Years Eve dinner that we learned our first year out here and one we have adopted for all our "Eve's". Robert and Katherine had another couple and their son join us which was great and really fun. We brought down fresh crab legs from No. Cal to share with everyone and oh, they were delicious!! After dinner, "Santa" arrived to say hello as he was passing over head and drop off a "pre Christmas gift" for each child. It was actually the husband of the couple that Katherine and Robert had join us for dinner. He apparently does this every year and actually owns his own Santa suit. Their son is getting to the age (he was 7) that he was starting to figure out this was his dad but he played along with the other kids who were just beside themselves actually seeing Santa in their home! It was a really fun night and oh, was it hard to get all the kids to bed after all of that!!!

Finally, kids asleep...Robb and Robert began the task of putting together Aidan's big wheel from Santa. Thankfully, according to Robb, I chose all gifts that came pre assembled this year so no creative putting together for us this year! Katherine and I layed out all the piles and placed each child's stocking in front of their pile and then sat back and watched the two engineers muttle thru the "easy" instructions. Hilarious! Especially after some wine!!!

Christmas morning is Katherine's big thing. So, she was up and preparing us a wonderful breakfast to enjoy as we opened gifts. The kids were so excited they all were up and down the stairs squeeling with delight before one adult had even brushed our teeth! Everyone was thrilled with their loot and all got exactly what they wanted and then some. The breakfast and mimosas were fantastic and by 10am under the tree had been cleaned out and adults were starting up the line for a shower. The rest of the day was great. We just enjoyed watching the kids play with their new toys, took a walk down to the park (you can do that in So. Cal on Christmas Day seeing as the weather is sunny and 80 degrees!) and let Aidan try out his big wheel and Ashlyn her Razor, came back and got ready for Christmas dinner. We did a horseradish crusted prime rib roast with a horseradish sauce, goat cheese mashed potatoes, a fresh green bean casserole with homemade breadcrumbs, and a vinegerette salad. So yummy!!! A great end to a great day!

Monday, Katherine had to work the wee-early shift and would be home around 10am so the rest of us got up and I made Maryland crab melts with the left over crab from Christmas Eve. Katherine arrived just as we were sitting down so we all enjoyed a late brunch and then headed out to another park to play for the afternoon.

Tuesday we began the trek home. The goodbye's were sad and all the kids left in tears as usual as we pulled out. So hard to say good bye! We drove home with little to no traffic which was awesome. Made a stop at a new winery called Adelaida which we loved not only for the wines but they also had this amazing fenced in front grassy area with tables that we could just let the dogs and girls run free and play while we had lunch. We liked them so much we ended up joining their wine club!

We got home around 5pm and just unloaded the car and crashed. It was a great trip and a great holiday. Thanks Katherine and Robert!! Ya'll are awesome!!!

Click Here for all the pictures from our holiday. They aren't censored very much cause I am just too tired and want to get this post out. So you get the gamit of the entire day! Enjoy and Merry Christmas to each of you! Hope your holiday was wonderful!! Now on to my New Years post! :)

Christmas Performance

2011-12-18T14:05:00.000-08:00

EmmaKate participated in her 2nd annual Christmas performance at the California Theatre last week with her school, Valley Christian. Each year, the elementary school (kinder thru 5th grade) puts on a production of Christmas Carol's they have been practicing on since school started it feels like. The kids get so excited as it gets closer and we start hearing the different carol's around the house starting oh, around October! We love going to watch. The kids are so funny when they are on stage!! EmmaKate says she loves to perform on stage although the expression on her face tells a different story. She looks so bored up there!! But, she perfoms...we watch and clap and cheer...and then we go and enjoy the Christmas lights in Christmas in the Park in downtown San Jose. The true highlight of the night!!

Here are some photos of her preformance and our stroll through the park. I also took a couple of videos if you are interested in listening to a huge group of kids sing!

Click here for the video of Jingle Bells

Click here for the video of We Wish You A Merry Christmas

Snow in California!!

Merry Christmas!!

HO...HO...HO...We Saw Santa!!

2011-12-08T12:02:00.000-08:00

In my usual tradition, I get the girls all dolled up and head up to see Santa during one of the few days before Thanksgiving. I know, sounds strange to being doing the Santa thing before the turkey is even fried. But, I have found over the years it is the absolute BEST time to see him! No one is interested in him yet therefore, no crowds....no lines....no crying kids and frustrated photographers....it's perfect!

The girls donned their holiday dresses and we headed up around 10am the Monday morning before Thanksgiving. And, as predicted...he was sitting there bored, hoping someone would come sit on his lap and have a chat for a minute or two. The girls were just the candidates too! They were super excited to see him and we ended up spending about 20 minutes just with him. He talked with them about presents, if they were being good, eating their veggies, and who their favorite reindeer was. He walked around his little forest looking set up with them, twirled them in a dance or two, laughed and giggled with them in addition to noting their wish lists. I, of course, was just standing in the background taking picture after picture, enjoying their youthfulness and hoping it lasts a while longer.

We finally said our goodbyes and see you Christmas morning. He gave them each a little stuffed teddy bear and candy cane and I was over delighted with all the photos I got...in addition to the one I purchased. We all came away quite happy and full of merriment!!

Here are the photos and a Merry Christmas to each of you!!!

EmmaKate & GiGi the Horse

2011-12-08T10:51:00.000-08:00

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas! Our December kicked off at a stable...and not like as in Mary & Joseph. EmmaKate FINALLY had her horse riding lesson. The one we signed up for back in October that kept getting pushed back and pushed back...finally arrived! She was so excited. Robb had reserve duty so it was just us that day unfortunately. He was fine with it knowing me and my camera - he wouldn't miss a step!

The girls woke up and got themselves all ready to go, boots and all, before I even got out of bed. They were sitting on the couch just as anxious as could be! About noon, we loaded up and headed south to Gilroy to the ranch where we were meeting her trainer. We arrived and it was just beautiful! So many horses, so much land...just lovely! We located Teddi, our trainer, and she introduced us to GiGi, EmmaKate's horse. She was amazing! She was a former show horse that had been on the circuit for years and did very well. Her owners were done showing her and sold her to Teddi to live out her life in luxury at this ranch teaching young riders and doing the occasional show. She was huge yet gentle with a smidge of crankiness if you touched certain areas as arthritis was setting in. But, all that to say...in EmmaKate's eyes, she was PERFECT!

Teddi taught her how to get the horse ready including brushing, cleaning out her hooves, putting the bridal and saddle on, and eventually leading her out to the arena. They saddled up and EmmaKate learned the basics of how to "drive" the horse....stop, go, left, right, and then Teddi taught her the proper way to "sit" when walking and then moving into a trot. Before I knew it, literally, she had her trotting this horse around the arena! I couldn't believe it and was so proud of her!! She guided GiGi just where she wanted her to go taking her in and out of a trot. About half way thru the lesson, Teddi released the lead she had on GiGi and told EmmaKate to take her on her own. She was such a natural on this horse. Teddi said that same thing to me later. She asked if she could continue to work with EmmaKate as she was just blown away at how natural this came to her. So....as you might be guessing, EmmaKate will get her life long wish and we'll be signing her up for regular lessons in the new year. She couldn't be happier!!

It was such a fun afternoon. Hannah loved being there petting each and every horse and watching Emma. Teddi wants to put Hannah on a horse next...we'll see if Hannah is ready for that!!

Click here for some photos and links to youtube videos I took that day. Enjoy!!!

Horse riding video 1

Horse riding video 2

Horse riding video 3

Thanksgiving at the Balog house!

2011-11-30T13:46:00.000-08:00

Gosh, it has been forever since I put up a post!! It's just beginning that time of year as you can definitely agree! So, here is the catch up of the last couple of weeks.....

EmmaKate had a super fun thanksgiving party at school on the Friday before the holiday week. They called it Colonial Day and celebrated all the food, fun, games, and crafts back in the day. The kids had a ton of fun going from room to room trying all sorts of new things. Our room was in charge of the food (cornmeal pancakes, homemade applesauce and homemade butter), another room was in charge of crafts (cornhusk dolls, writing letters with ink and quills, sealed with wax, homemade toy with beads, etc) and the last room was in charge of games. Everyone had such fun! Click here for some pics from the day.

Following that, the week of Thanksgiving began. The Balog's arrived on Tuesday and we enjoyed our usual crab dinner for Thanksgiving Eve, and loads of deliciousness for Thanksgiving Day with the Balog's and the Hagen's - our traditional fried turkey, goat cheese mashed potatoes, my homemade green bean casserole, a sausage and sourdough bread stuffing, cinnamom cranberry sauce, a feta/walnut/cranberry salad and a delicious cranberry swirled cheesecake, thanks to the Hagen's! Football and fantastic food - what a day!!!

Friday, Hannah woke up not feeling well so we sent the Balog's, Robb and EK off to pick out and cut down out our annual Christmas tree. Robb and his dad got both my trees up and the lights up on the house that afternoon so we are set for the holidays! Decorations next!!

We enjoyed some yummy leftovers that night and then the Balog's headed home to Houston early Saturday morning. We spent the rest of the weekend decorating, Robb working on a project for SRI, and the girls decorating their Christmas trees and their room. Oh, and I almost forgot!! We all headed up to EK's school to create and put up a gingerbread house for her teacher. It turned out so cute! Here is a picture of it...
We are now headed into December and ready for Christmas! Coming soon....Santa pics!!!

Happy Halloween!

2011-11-01T12:33:00.001-07:00

The girls and I headed over to Westgate Church in Saratoga for their huge fall festival bash for Halloween this year. Robb was out of town in D.C. so we were on our own. The festival sounded like it would be a lot of fun especially cause it was just me with the girls this year instead of just walking our neighborhood. And, it turned out to be spectacular!! We met some friends from school there as well as our friends the Kelly's. The kids had a great time and I enjoyed just following them along helping them collect what is now their huge stash!

The church had bounce houses, trick or treating, games, face painting, puppet shows, a theatre show, food, a cake walk, and a dunk tank. They really went all out! We arrived back home around 8pm and the girls were just exhausted. They were in bed and asleep by 8:30pm...with their coveted bags of goodies at the foot of their bed. Robb arrived home around 9pm and had a great and very successful trip to DC.

Click here for pictures of our night! Hope ya'll had a Happy Halloween too!!!

Trunk or Treat!

2011-10-31T16:31:00.000-07:00

The girls attend AWANAS on Sunday nights as most of you know. AWANAS hosts a "Trunk or Treat" fall festival party for all the kids each year. It was such a great idea!! All the parents drive their cars into a designated parking lot and back in. Trunks are opened and decorated - some simple like ours, to very elaborate like some in the photos. The kids rotate thru "trunk or treating", carnival games, and gym time (aka: bounce houses, scooter races, etc.) during the fall festival.

My friend Jamie and I went together in her van and decorated (quite meekly in looking at some of the others!) the back and sat and passed out candy as the treaters came by. It was really a lot of fun and all the kids had a great time!

On Monday, we did a little fall party for EK and her class at school. Valley does not celebrate Halloween so we had to make it more "fallish" but it worked out pretty well. I made cupcakes for the kids and we had a pumpkin craft and a game called "Pumpkin Stew" where the kids had to suck on a straw and pick up pumpkins and drop them in a cup as quick as they could. One of the other mom's helping me made the most amazing little prizes for the kids! They were little white chocolate covered pretzels with a gummy stem on top to make them look like a pumpkin. She put a few in little boxes and tied them with straw. Really precious and delicious!

Here are pictures from both events! Click here for pictures....

Little Warrior Nation

2011-10-31T14:01:00.000-07:00

Last week, EmmaKate had her first Little Warrior Nation clinic. It was soccer and she was so excited! Little Warrior Nation is a program Valley offers in which the kids can choose 12 clinics during the school year of sports activites they would like to try out. They offer everything including soccer, softball, basketball, baseball, aquatics, tennis, wrestling, football, track & field, and volleyball. The kids sign up for 12 clinics and the clinics are scheduled on specific dates from 3-5pm throughout the school year. She has done 2 soccer clinics so far and has loved them! She looks just like Robb when she plays! Her next clinic is this Wednesday and is softball. That should be fun to see! She has also signed up for track & field, volleyball, more soccer, and basketball. It will be neat to see what she likes and what she excels at.

Here are some pics from soccer! Go EK!!! Click here for pictures.

Camping Out!!

2011-10-18T12:52:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned, we had some fun this past weekend! EmmaKate and Robb decided to "camp out" in the backyard - tent and all! They had tried this little outing together in Yosemite but it didn't work out so well. So, they tried it again and it was a total success....and, she LOVED it!

They got the tent out and set it up together. They got their warm jammies on and lots of blankets...seeing as it is dropping down into the 40's right now. They grabbed a flashlight and a book and after a kiss goodnight to Hannah and me....they went off into the "forest" of our backyard for the night. Hannah and I "camped" out in my bed for the night watching TinkerBell! My kind of camping!!!

Here are a few photos of their fun night!

Setting up the tent.

Good night!

Good morning!!! They made it.

Now get up - time for church you two!!!

Our Week...

2011-10-17T12:17:00.000-07:00

Just a quick update for you since my last post.... I mentioned that last Saturday, EmmaKate was to have her first horseback riding lesson. We were so looking forward to it and had talked about it all week...read our Breyer horse books all week in preparation...practiced grooming our toy horses here..etc etc and the most unfortunate thing happened. I got an email from her trainer late Friday night that she had hurt her foot and was on crutches so our lesson was going to have to be rescheduled until November. We felt so bad for EmmaKate and she was quite sad but she really handled it well and was very "grown up" about understanding the situation. Robb and I thought and we decided to kinda of make it up to her/ them...we headed for the beach! The beach heals all ailments, right!?

It was a fun morning! We went up to the beach just south of SF and hung out, walked, and let the girls and dogs play. They had a ball! It was a good alternative to horseback riding. Click here for more pictures!

The rest of the week was fairly calm. The girls had AWANAS on Sunday, a playdate on Monday, gymnastics on Tuesday, EK took the bus over to the highschool on Wednesday for lunch to meet her Little Warrior Nation big buddy for a pizza lunch. She loved it and really enjoyed meeting her! She plays on the girls soccer team so we will get to go watch her in a game this season as well. And, Friday we started off the weekend with a fun playdate with her BFF from school Madison and her mom and little sister.

Saturday, was an all nothing day! It was nice actually - especially for Robb - who rarely sees them!! We just piddled around here, slept in, cooked out, just a lot of nothing!! Oh, and EK and Robb did something super fun that will be it's own blog next! Totally deserving of its own!!! Sunday then we had our friends, the Byrnes, over for lunch and the afternoon. It was so much fun and so great to see them! Since they live in Pleasanton now, it is harder to get together but we try as best we can. The girls just love it when we do!!! And then, after they left...we headed over for AWANAS again and the adults enjoyed german brats and coleslaw. Yumm!

Now, onto this week. The week is looking good...but the weekend is looking fabulous as we are headed north to Sonoma for the day on Saturday with 2 couple friends for some wine and relaxation! More to come on that.... Have a good week!

A day in the life...

2011-10-07T12:46:00.000-07:00

Nothing huge to blog about this week so I'll just catch you up on us! Last Sunday, the girls and I went to church as Robb had reserve duty. I held my first official meeting as Director of the Nursery and Toddlers with all my new teachers for the fall. It went really well and I think everyone is pretty excited about teaching this quarter. The girls were great and just played on the playground the entire time while they waited for me! After church, we just hung out at home as we were all seeming to be coming down with a cold. We did go to AWANAS that night and Hannah earned her official CUBBIE vest and tote bag for saying her verses! She was SO very excited!! It was really cute to see the look on her face when she received them. You would have thought someone just handed her the stars!

That night, Hannah came down with the worst part of the cold followed by me on Monday and EmmaKate on Tuesday. Robb seemed to escape it, thank goodness! It didn't help that it rained and rained all week long. Completely uncharacteristic of this time of year for us!! We still managed to go to gymnastics this week but EmmaKate's tennis clinic was cancelled due to rain. Bummer! She was really looking forward to it too. I ended up keeping her home from school on Wednesday which worked out well as we had some excitement around here. Keep reading!!

Thursday and Friday, school was off for some teacher something or other, so the girls and I just hung out here and watched the rain flood the backyard. Oh, and of course watched the TV to keep updated on the lone gunman running around Sunnyvale! Did you see that on the news!? So, short version....a 48 year old black man worked at the quarry just over in Cuppertino (which is only about 10 minutes away from us for those of you who don't know the area). He became disgruntled during a team meeting, stepped outside, and came back in with an AK47 shooting. He killed 2, or was it 3, and injured 7 before leaving the plant. He then made his way to the intersection that we actually turn at to go to our church where he attempted to hijack a lady and her car. She got away but he shot her in the leg. He then went missing for over 24 hours with both the Cuppertino and Sunnyvale police in full SWAT mode searching for him. They were literally going door to door in neighborhoods all of a few miles from us. Finally, Thursday morning they caught up with him at a home in a neighborhood and he was shot and killed. Unbelievable really!!! We stayed home all Wednesday and Thursday morning until he was found. Scary!!

Now, we are heading into the weekend and we have some super fun plans! Tomorrow we are heading down to Gilroy for EmmaKate's first official horseback riding lesson! I found this great deal for an introductory lesson and signed her up months ago. It's finally here and she is bounding around the house in anticipation. She is obsessed with horses if you didn't know!! She has her outfit picked out - jeans and a horse shirt, of course - and I bought her new brown riding boots for the occasion. I'll take tons of pics and post them.

That's about it for us! More to come after the weekend. Happy Friday to you!!!

It's FINALLY happened....

2011-09-19T15:09:00.000-07:00

...the turning point in our lives!! Last Sunday embarked a new era on the Balog household. Hannah went to AWANAS....all by herself!! Yes, it's true. My little sidekick, my "mini me", our little angelic gal who has been so fearful to be left anywhere that I have stayed by her side in sunday school each and every sunday, never left her with any sitter except Katie, never left her at a friends house to play, etc etc....has now spread her wings and she is flying HIGH!! She has found a new independence that is just wonderful for her....and exciting for us.

Background on Hannah (well, both girls really!)....they have always been super attached to the point that neither would ever allow to be left without me! EmmaKate had her turning point about age 2 1/2 when she entered the next sunday school grade/class that provided a routine and structure. She thrived in that environment and once she got the hang of that...she entered preschool without a tear, ballet with no problems, gymnastics with a wave goodbye, swimming without even looking back, VBS, AWANAS, playdates, and the list continues as she grows. It's awesome to watch!! Hannah has been a little slower on the "release" but I haven't minded really. She is my baby....my last...so I am savoring the time and the "connectedness" truthfully. But, this summer has been a gradual turning point for her with me taking over as the Director of Nursery & Toddlers at church, it has forced her to go to sunday school by herself. She has the comfort of me being next door to her...but she does go into class without me. We also enrolled her in gymnastics during the same hour as EK. She had a hard time the first few weeks but again, has now taken to it and now runs to get in line! AWANAS was HUGE!! I enrolled both the girls in the program this year - EK is in SPARKS again and Hannah is in CUBBIES. Both really wanted to go and were really excited. I had checked with the church ahead of time and asked if Hannah could "try" it out before I paid for her in the event she did not want me to leave. We went last Sunday and a super sweet lady took us under her wing and walked us around to each of the girls rooms. We dropped off EK first, as I knew that would be the easy one. She happily ran in when she got there and never looked back! Hannah was next and as we walked, I was telling the lady about Hannah and her past fears of being dropped off somewhere without me. She was awesome and had apparently been in my shoes with her own children. What a blessing when we showed up at Hannah's room to find out this lady's daughter was one of the teen helpers in the room. She told her daughter, Casey, about Hannah and Casey immediately took Hannah under her wing and welcomed her with open arms. They immediately bonded and Hannah, no kidding, walked in with her and never even said goodbye to me!! I could NOT believe it! My friend Jamie was there with me and literally I think her jaw hit the floor. I lingered about in the hallways during the entire hour and a half just to be sure she wouldnt' freak out and begin to panic and cry. She didn't of course but instead had a fabulous time and at the end when I picked her up...she screamed about how much fun she had and wanted to come back again! It was priceless!!

So, a week passed and we worked on our verses so she was ready to head back to AWANAS this past Sunday excited and ready to recite her verse and the CUBBIE motto. Again, my friend Jamie and I took all the kids and dropped them all off at their respective rooms....all without a hitch....but this time had planned ahead a bit and we met up with the dad's at an Italian Wine Bar for the evening! It was AWESOME!! We are now so looking forward to our Sunday "Adult" nights during AWANAS - woo hoo!

Onto other news...my mom arrived Monday for the week which we were all super excited about. We have a fun week planned which includes a day trip up to Hanna Winery on Thursday. We are going up to have a photo done of the girls and dogs in the vineyards which will be turned into a painting, done by a lady that works at Hanna. We have been talking with her for about 6 months or so about doing this for us and we finally have a date on the calendar. Should be fun and I am really excited to see what we come up with for her to work with. Then on Friday, I got us tickets to a book signing by Bobby Flay! I KNOW!! Bobby Flay will be here at Sur La Table and I called and pre registered for tickets of his new book. I am so stinkin excited to see and meet him. I am hoping for a good photo op and if I get one...it will be on here, no doubt!

So, that is what is going on in our world. Congrats to our little Hannah for growing up just a smidge more this year!! Amazing!!! Preschool....here we come!

Labor Day and Beyond!!

2011-09-06T20:31:00.000-07:00

The last couple of weeks have been a whirlwind! Super fun...but busy busy busy! From school beginning on August 22nd and us getting used to getting back into the routine of getting up early and getting out the door on time for school...with all our stuff like lunches and backpacks....to our quarterly "adult only" winery outing (did I tell you about that?? ok...next!), to our second week of school in which HOMEWORK started (oh my!!), to my brother, sister in law and their kids coming up for Labor Day weekend. Oh, and all the while...I am still working at Dell, doing the job of Director of Nursery & Toddlers at church, and I was just elected to be Room Mom for EK's first grade class. Robb asked me, "do you really need another title?!?" Guess I do!

So, backing up...the last weekend of August was our quarterly "adult only" winery outing that we do with 4 other couples in our church. You may have seen me blog about it before but we all meet up at Byington Winery in the Santa Cruz mountains right after church on a Sunday afternoon and we enjoy a fabulous gourmet lunch and wine tastings for the entire afternoon. It is fabulous!!! And, did I mention it was ADULTS ONLY?!? This time I brought the main dish which was smoked chicken burritos. I made a burrito bar with warmed tortillas, smoked chicken, a chipotle mayonnaise, a bell pepper salad tossed with an orange-cumin vinaigrette, fresh avocado slices and cilantro with a roasted corn salsa. We also had freshly made guacamole, salsa and a spread of delicious appetizers such as a sun dried tomato/goat cheese/basil skewer, a spread of cheeses including a wonderful soft cheese with truffles in the middle and topped it all off with smores straight off the grill. And, I haven't even mentioned all the wonderful wine!!! All that to say, it was a great afternoon as usual!!

So, from there...we flew right into the Labor Day weekend. My brother, sister in law and their kiddos drove up Friday night arriving close to 9:30pm but it was so worth it as we then got 2 1/2 full days to play with them!! Saturday, we got up and fired up the smoker for a bone in pork shoulder that would smoke all day for delicious pulled pork sandwiches with cole slaw and mustard sauce that night. Yum, yum...is all we had to say!! We then spent the next morning being lazy watching football and watching the kids play and then Katherine and I escaped in our usual fashion for an afternoon of cocktails and shopping. The guys got to watch the kids and the meat!! We had a great time and she even found a cute dress for an upcoming wedding they are going to in Napa. Dinner that night with the pulled pork was absolutely yummy (thanks Nate Kelly for the terrific sauce recipe!). Sunday, we all got up and went to church. Aidan and Hannah went to little church together and had a ball. She introduced him to everyone she knew!! Ashlyn went with EK to "movie month" for first-fifth graders. And Robert, Katherine and Robb went to church while I did my Director job. After church we all came home for some smoked chicken tostados with a creamy avocado dressing and then the boys headed out for some guy time up at David Bruce winery while Katherine and I took the kids to the pool for the afternoon. We all met back home for a relaxing evening and we grilled out a marinated flank steak with a horseradish sauce, grilled potato packets, and a grilled asparagus medley for dinner that night.

Monday, we got up and had breakfast together...played a bit in the morning and then they headed back to So. Cal. Robb and I then spent the afternoon cleaning out the garage and running a few errands. Robert got Robb into infusing his own vodka so we had to go pick up some more clear bottles for his different concoctions. They are quite delicious!!

So, now we are onto this week...EK started her 3rd week of school and still loving it. I had my first Room Mom meeting this afternoon in which Hannah joined me and we got the low down on all the upcoming activities and dates for the year. I meet with the teacher tomorrow to go over all her ideas and needs for the year. I am also gearing up to head to Phoenix for two days next week for Dell. This is the first time I have had to travel with Dell and be away from the girls...ever!! A little nervous, I must say, but Katie (their nanny) will come over at 630am so Robb can go to work and will stay with them til Robb gets home. Then Robb is Mr. Mom for a couple days! Just after I get back, we have some weekend plans that consist of birthday parties and baby showers and then my mom arrives on the 19th for a week - yay!!

So, that about sums up our September so far. Hope ya'll had a great Labor Day weekend and a good start to fall!! More to come soon....

First Day of School!

2011-08-22T13:04:00.001-07:00

Today was the first day of FIRST grade for EmmaKate! She was very excited but yet a little unsure of what it was going to be like as you can imagine. We attended Back to School night last week and that helped as she got to meet her teacher, see her new classroom and her desk, and find out who all was in her class. We were looking forward to today!

We had a super fun "last weekend" of summer though. We had friends over on Saturday for a cookout. They have 3 girls and 1 boy - of which 2 of the girls are EmmaKate and Hannah's age and in their respective sunday school classes. It was a fun evening and the kids seem to all have a ball! Sunday, we went to church and I started my new "job" as Interim Director of Nursery & Toddlers; Hannah went to her class all by herself (I was so proud of her) and EmmaKate enjoyed her class with all her friends as usual. Sunday afternoon we headed over to our friends the Kelly's for some yummy pulled pork and playtime. The girls brought their Razors and were zipping around the backyard as we tried to keep little Cami (age 1) from getting run over!!

We came home, showered, packed her backpack and lunch and off to bed we went, with a little chat time of what the morning would hold. The girls got up right around 7am and we were out the door at 8am, of course after mom took a few pics of the big FIRST grader! Once we got there and she got out and we began walking towards the playground, I think it all came back to her as to how much she enjoyed last year. The jitters seem to go away and she fell right back into the routine of lining up, saying the pledges, and walking off to class. No tears...not even a look back from any of the kids! All of us mom's were so happy and proud of them yet on the other hand realized, wow - they are growing up....and fast! I can't wait to pick her up and hear about her day!! More to come tomorrow but here are pics from this morning! Thanks Grandma for the cute new outfit!!! Perfect for her first day!

Big First Grader

Giving Hannah a hug goodbye.

Walking into school with her friend and classmate Marissa.

Her friend Jordan joined in.

Her girlfriends from last year - some are in her class again.

Standing in line ready to go.

Saying the pledge.

Off you go FIRST grader!!

Back to School Night

2011-08-19T21:27:00.000-07:00

Well, the time has come....summer is over and school is starting Monday! That means that EmmaKate begins FIRST grade Monday - whoaaaa!

Last night was Back to School Night where we got to go and check out all the actvities available for the school year and most importantly meet our first grade teacher and see our new classroom! It was fun to reconnect with friends (and mom's) from last year - almost like a reunion - and get reaquainted with everyone again. We then heard a short talk from the principal, an intro to the teachers, and then we were dismissed to our new classrooms.

We arrived and EmmaKate found her desk, her school box filled with pencils, erasers, glue sticks, crayons, etc....all from her new teacher! So exciting!! We listened to the teacher's shpeel about the year's curriculum, field trips, volunteer opportunites, requested items, etc. and then got to meet and hang out with all the other students. It was a fun night and we are looking forward to a fun year!!

Yosemite Vacation

2011-08-17T21:12:00.000-07:00

We just got back from a week's vacation in Yosemite National Park which was just delightful. My parents flew in for it...my brother and his family drove up for it...it was a super fun week with all of us together!

We rented a home in Mariposa which is located just outside the southern entrance to Yosemite and a really adorable, quaint old western town still with the original courthouse from 1854, the original jailhouse still stands from 1858, and the old mine (1849) that is now a really great museum for children. The town was a one street town that had lots of cute little shops and eateries. The house we rented was great too. It was a 3 bedroom house with a loft, had a large well stocked kitchen, 2 large great rooms that included this enormous table for all of us to sit around together, a wrap around deck, a hot tub, outdoor shower and sat on a huge private 2 acres so the dogs and kids could run and play to their hearts content! There was even a hammock, tree swing, garden, and a really nice grill (which we most definitely used!). It was a great find and I would definitely go back and rent it again!

So, we all arrived right about the same time and got ourselves unloaded and situated with bedrooms and in the kitchen while the kids took off exploring with the dogs and had a ball! Following that, we spent time in the park exploring as much as we could see. We stopped at all the major sites such as El Capitan, Sentinel Beach and the Swinging Bridge (where the kids played in the Merced River), the Ahwahnee Hotel - absolutely amazingly beautiful and elegant!! - and even were blessed with a lovely buck that crossed the road right in front of our car! Then we hopped on the shuttle and went to Yosemite Village and Yosemite Falls where we hiked up to the base of the falls - an unbelievable site. As if that wasn't good enough...Robb and Robert decided it would be fun to hike UP to the falls WITH the kids!! So, we started hiking. The big girls made it fine. The little ones ended up being carried straight up a very rocky and steep incline but we all made it up and got the showery spray of our lives as we sat right at the falls looking down where my parents sat at the base. Really cool!!!

Another day we spent in the town of Mariposa seeing the sights and the quaint little shops and taking the kids to the old mine and going underground to walk the steps of the miners. We then went panning for gold and everyone came back "lucky"! For $10 a bag of rocks, they had better get "lucky"!! Katherine and I even "spiked" their bags with additional fools gold and pieces of copper just so it would be super fun and they'd have lots to find as they panned.

On another excursion, we took everyone up to Glacier Point which is also in Yosemite National Park. It's about an hour drive up once you get in the park and more than worth it. Spectacular is all I have to say!! Once you get up there and walk out to the edge you see a mere 4000 foot drop straight down to the valley floor. Like I said, spectacular! On our way down, we had a even more spectacular site...a momma bear and her cub were walking along the roadside. The girls went nuts seeing an actual real live bear in the park. Man, were they beautiful!!

After our super awesome siting, we took the kids back down to the river at the Swinging Bridge, changed them into their swimsuits and river shoes and let them play til they shivered. It was some seriously cold water as it was nothing more than melted snow but they loved it...and truthfully, we were all in the river and had a ball!

In addition to the sights and loveliness of Yosemite...we ended up making some FUN of our own at the house! We had a huge water balloon fight with nearly 200 water balloons thanks to Auntie Katherine, water battles with the hose courtesy of my brother, a baseball game - Hannah was a great pitcher, hot tub time - kids only! it was way to hot for any logical person to get in, and our infamous "Happy Hour" for adults while the kids played their Nintendo's!

A fabulous week no doubt!! Here are a few pics and if you dare, you can view the link to the album. I warn you..there are lots to look at but they are worth it! Click here for the link to the album.

Robert & Katherine - see you in 2 weeks for Labor Day! Thanks again for a great trip!
Mom & Dad - we had such fun!! Thanks for coming out and sharing such a special week with us all!

A Good Ole Fashioned Texas BBQ....

2011-08-01T11:28:00.000-07:00

....for 530 of our closest friends!! Well, sort of. Sunday, July 24th we had our annual Celebration Sunday (aka Family Fun Day) at our church including a good ole fashioned Texas BBQ and I was asked to cater it again this year. Fire up the smoker, Robb!!! I was super excited as I totally am into the whole catering and event planning thing. If only that could be my real job...ahhhh, the dream! But nonetheless, I get to live out part of that dream every summer for this big family event.

Last year, we had 325 people sign up to come. I catered it for around 425 and over 500 showed - yikes!! We made it...barely...so this year, I planned for more like 550-600 and it was perfect! We even had enough for folks to enjoy seconds if they wanted. The menu this year was similiar to last year with a few new additions. We served sandwhiches with a choice of sliced beef brisket, smoked pulled pork, or mesquite flavored grilled chicken breasts, two BBQ sauces - a traditional red sauce and Robb made his Carolina mustard sauce for the pork, baked beans, cole slaw, potatoe salad, watermelon and a slice of pickle. Oh, and we grilled hot dogs for the kids who chose to forgoe the BBQ. It was a feast and one that was greatly enjoyed! If you are interested in quantities just for fun, here's the breakdown:

85 lbs of beef brisket

70 lbs of pork butt

60 chicken breasts

77 lbs of baked beans

75 lbs of potatoe salad

80 lbs of cole slaw

196 hot dogs

16 whole watermelons sliced in triangles

I'll spare you the details on drinks and chips and buns and...and...and.... :)

Robb fired up the smoker and got the meat on at 4am on Saturday. Nate, a friend and fellow BBQ'er, came over at 8 that night to help pull pork while I was in the kitchen slicing up watermelons. We then moved the smoker over to the church late that night and then fired it up again in the morning there to heat everything back up. This year we had 2 serving lines which worked out perfectly and all the tables and chairs out in the parking lot so everyone could watch the kids play on the bounce houses, obstacle courses, dunk tanks, and other kid games. The event lasted all afternoon with the last of the folks, like us, heading out around 4pm. I wish I could have taken pictures but I was a little busy to say the least. I do know that someone was taking them so as soon as I get them, I'll update the blog. I'm sure they are great!!

Oh, and I bet you are wondering about the girls!! No I didn't forget about them. They just get farmed out during these events. Katie, their nanny, came over at 7am that Sunday and took them on for the day. She is awesome!!! She got them all dressed for me, brought them to church, fed them and kept an eye on them all afternoon while Robb and I were busy with the BBQ. They had a blast playing and were quite worn out by the end!!

So, that was my BBQ again this year. Can't wait til next year now! Wanna come!??!

Tooth Fairy....Come Find Me!!!

2011-07-26T20:05:00.000-07:00

It has finally happened so my big Texas BBQ post will have to wait! EmmaKate lost her very first tooth today. I can't begin to describe her joy when she plucked that little white thing out of her mouth!!

It all began back in April when we went to the dentist and he said, "Ohhh...we have a wiggly tooth!". It was barely, I mean barely, wiggly but that was enough for her seeing as all of her friends were losing one and some multiple teeth. She SO wanted to be one of "those" kids! So for months, she has been working that tooth and then another began to loosen. Even more exciting!!! Now there are TWO to wiggle!!! Finally this past week, she could make it bend at a 90 degree angle (which completely grossed Robb out at dinner the night she showed him!) and so we knew it just had to be within days. I was getting ready to offer to snap it out for her but today she was sitting on the couch after vacation bible camp, just before gymnastics, and all of a sudden she shreels out, "Mommy, I just lost my tooth!!!!". Oh, she was so excited. She didn't know whether to laugh, scream, giggle, or panic that she actually just pulled her own tooth out and by the way...where is all the blood she heard so much about!?!?

Well, no blood...just a tooth that was beyond ready to make it's journey to the tooth fairy. Which, speaking of, had not gone to the bank as she was waiting to go tomorrow for other reasons and to pick up some "fairy tokens". Her assistant, aka ME, quickly ran out to the garage with phone in hand and called Robb and told him to make a quick run to the bank as we were going to be in dire need later tonight!!!

Our toothless gal is now in bed...gladly tonight, might I add...and the tooth fairy should be appearing shortly to leave her congratulations in the form of gold dollar coins. Should be fun tomorrow morning!!!

Katherine & the Kids!

2011-07-18T12:54:00.000-07:00

Last Wednesday, my sister in law Katherine and her kids drove up from So. Cal for a long weekend visit. My brother had to stay back to work and get some stuff done around the house so Katherine and the kids headed our way for some weekend fun!! And, fun we definitely did have!!

They arrived Wednesday afternoon around 3pm and the girls were bouncing off the walls! They had been driving me crazy since 1pm with the "how much longer, moooooom?" Finally the wait was over and playtime could begin!

We had a great weekend with them! Thursday, we took EmmaKate to swim lessons and packed a picnic lunch and stayed at the pool the entire afternoon after her lesson. All the kids just swam and swam...big pool, toddler pool, back and forth all afternoon. They had a ball and were so wiped out when we got home. Ashlyn and EmmaKate are really good swimmers and loved being in the big pool together. Aidan is fearless, as is Hannah, and they enjoyed going from the big pool with their swim vests on to the toddler pool to play as hard as they wanted. Katherine and I got loads of visiting in and a great tan!!

Friday we got up and decided to go to the trampoline place (Sky High Jump) where we hosted EmmaKate's birthday this year. The kids had a ton of fun and we were literally the only people there for the first half hour so they got all the trampolines and foam pit to themselves. We then came home for lunch and made cookie pops and played the rest of the afternoon.

Saturday we all went down to the farmer's market and walked around then over to the park to play. Robb went and got us all Sam's BBQ for lunch and then we broke out the slip n slide for the kids which was hilarious to watch them try and "out do" each other!

Katherine and I had a great time visiting and catching up and enjoying "Happy Hour" every evening when we would break out the handheld games (Nintendos and Leapsters) and open the wine as the kids played. Such a super fun weekend! Here are some photos. Click here to see the whole album!!

Everyone in the Fun Ball!

Pushing Aidan around the backyard.
Comparing who has what games...and which one's to borrow!!

Aidan getting a snuggle.

Jumping at Sky High Jump.

Such a poser!

How high can she go?!?

Quick! Picture!!!

The Girls!

An Aidan Sandwhich.

Painting flower pots.

Ahhhh...."Happy Hour"!!!

Miss you Katherine! Soooo not the same!!!

Happy 4th of July!!

2011-07-06T10:27:00.000-07:00

Happy 4th of July everyone!

I hope yours was as wonderful and fun as ours was!!

We kicked off the weekend on Saturday with Robb going on a 30 mile bike ride and then all of us heading to the pool to cool off for the day. Sunday, was church as usual. This Sunday was a bit different though. EmmaKate joined Robb in big church as they did not have Sunday school that day for her; Hannah went to her Sunday school all by herself (a big milestone that I had to bribe her to do with a zhu zhu pet!!); and I shadowed our Nursery & Toddler Director as I will become the Interim Director while she is out on maternity leave. Lunch with the McCamish's and a trip to Costco made up our afternoon as well as getting ready for our 4th of July party with the Kelly family and the Moore family.

Robb started the smoker Sunday night and got the brisket on around midnight followed by a pork shoulder and a beer butt chicken hours later. We stayed up and sat outside on our new patio furniture til the wee hours enjoying the quiet night. Monday was spent setting up the patio and house and preparing all the appetizers and sides while Robb maintained the smoker and all it's deliciousness that was slowing cooking away.

Friends began showing up around 3pm and we nibbled, chatted, laughed and watched the kiddos play in the backyard. I had a fun craft for the kids to do after they finished digging through their 4th of July goodie bucket. I bought each child a small clay flower pot and set out paints for them to design their own pot. After they dried, everyone picked an annual flower I had bought and planted it in their pot. Lastly, everyone got an American Flag to add to the decor. They all turned out so cute!!

Dinner was great! Like I said, we had BBQ brisket with 2 sauces Robb made; a balsamic BBQ sauce and a red wine BBQ sauce. Both fantastic!!! We also had red roasted potatoes with blue cheese, fried okra, 2 different cole slaw's (courtesy of the Kelly's), watermelon and grilled corn on the cob with a garlic butter, fresh lime, and queso fresco. Dessert (courtesy of the Moore's) was a fantastic homemade flag cake. It was so beautiful, we hated to cut into it...although that feeling didn't last too long! YUMMMM!!!

Following dinner and dessert, we headed out to the front yard and broke out the fireworks and poppers. The kids had a great time making all that noise!! We gave all the kids a glow stick with a flag on top as the finale to their little party and all went home sometime after 9pm exhausted!

A great day with great friends!!! Click here for some photos from our 4th!!

My Sweet Niece's Birthday!

2011-06-24T16:22:00.000-07:00

Are you tired of our week yet!?!? It WAS a busy one!!! OK...so, quick recap! Our week started off with Robb's triathalon on Sunday, Monday was swim lessons and Sports Camp, Tuesday again was swim lessons, pick up Ama from the airport, dash off to gymnastics and then scarf down dinner in the car on the way to Sports Camp. Wednesday and Thursday were the same except for part of the day Wednesday when I got a sitter and Mom and I went shopping and lunching together! Friday was EmmaKate's ballet rehearsal followed by Sports Camp. Finally we come to Saturday....where we got up and made our trek down to my brother's house for the weekend. As usual, we stopped by Tobin James winery for a quick picnic and arrived in plenty of time for my sweet niece, Ashlyn's, 6th birthday party. It was super cute! A pajama party complete with pillow decorating, making your own door sign, and a treasure hunt! The girls had a blast!! Sunday was Father's Day which made it even more fun to share in the celebration with my brother. We went to church, hung out in the afternoon, and grilled out NY strip steaks that night. YUUUMMMY! We all had a great visit and then headed back north on Monday just in time for Robb to run into work for a bit, come home and pack up for his week in DC which he left for on Tuesday. My mom stayed and played with us throughout the week and then she headed home as Robb returned on Friday which was also his 37th birthday. The girls and I decorated the house and showered him with gifts and of course a cheesecake! It was a fun day and a fun relaxing weekend!!

Pics from the birthday party! I didn't take many at all this weekend. Too busy helping with the party!!

All jammied out!

The birthday girl enjoying cake!

Brother Aidan diving into his share!

Party goer's watch "Tangled"!

THE GIRLS!!!

Ashlyn and Hannah playing with birthday gifts.

And of course...the jeep comes out!!

Happy Birthday Ashlyn!!!

EmmaKate's Ballet Performance

2011-06-24T15:38:00.000-07:00

Last Friday afternoon (just before the final day of Sports Camp), EmmaKate had her second ballet/tap performance at the Santa Clara Convention Center. This was the full dress rehearsal and where they allow the parents to go nuts with photography and video. The actual performance which was going to be on Sunday and you aren't even allowed to bring your camera!! So, we went crazy as usual with photos and videos just like all the other parents!

So, we got EmmaKate all decked out....full hair and makeup....full costume and she and her little class performed to "I Want Candy". I must admit, their outfits were definitely one of the cutest by far and helped to camoflauge the lack of actual dancing! It was super cute and she did great!!

As soon as her performance was done we took a few cutsey photos of her and her BFF Ava then we were all off to Sports Camp. Ava's mom and I were cracking up because both the girls went to soccer in full hair and makeup! They were THE cutest soccer players you've ever seen! It was perfect for the final day of camp!!

Click here for the photos!! And here is a video my mom took of the performance.

Sports Camp 2011

2011-06-24T14:49:00.001-07:00

OK...it's been a whirlwind since the triathalon so you are about to get bombarded with updated posts on our recent activites. And, we've had A LOT of them!!! So, I am going to try and not be too wordy on these upcoming posts and just let you check out the pictures...as they tell most all of it anyway!

Starting off...Sports Camp started last Monday for a week of fun, sports and bible teaching. It's like a vacation bible school but with sports incorporated. Our church does it every summer for a week from 5-8pm and it is a blast!! I was the photographer last year and EmmaKate signed up for cheerleading. They asked me to be the photographer again this year and EmmaKate signed up for soccer and Robb signed up as a soccer coach. My mom came in town for a couple of weeks so she and Hannah got to play on the playground while camp went on and I took pictures. Fun for all!!

Click here for all the photos. I cut them way down to only the ones EmmaKate and Robb are in. Otherwise, you'd be looking at like 600 photos!! Yikes!!

Here are a couple videos too! Click on each link to watch them on YouTube.

Sports Camp Video One

Sports Camp Video Two

Sports Camp Video Three

Sports Camp Video Four

Robb's Triathalon

2011-06-12T15:15:00.000-07:00

Today, Robb just completed his second triathalon and did great!! He came in just at his time at 2 hours and 45 min and really had a good time and enjoyed it. He did this one with his partner in "tri" crime, Patrick Byrne, and another friend of ours Dave Haan. The swim started at 7am and he was planning to be coming in on the bike around 8:45am so the girls and I arrived about 8am and met up with Jenn Byrne and their girls. These are our super good friends who moved over to Pleasanton a couple years ago. Julia and EmmaKate have known each other since they were 6 mos old if that tells you anything! Anyway, we settled in and waited for the guys to come in on their bikes. The girls were so very excited to see them ride by! They clapped, cheered, and yelled "you can do it daddy!". We then simply turned around and waited and watched them run by as they began their long trek around the lake. We walked over, almost following them, and met them again at the turn-around so we could see them run by one more time and then headed back to the finish line to cheer them as they came in.

Click here to see the pictures of his day! I included a series of pictues of Patrick as well - they were just too darn cute!! You'll see!!! Congrats Robb - well done!!!

Our Newest Bike Rider!

2011-06-11T15:55:00.000-07:00

EmmaKate has just graduated from little girl bike to big girl bike and is now officially riding on her own! We bought her a new bike just before Memorial Day and tried it out just a bit before we left on our vacation but it didn't go so well. Since we have been back, she has been working hard on it. The break-thru came last Wednesday when a friend of mine that we met up with for a playdate brought her kids "skut". She had her 4 year old riding on 2 wheels after 2 days on the skut and her 6 year old had just gotten up on 2 wheels after a week on the skut. Her 3 year old was now working hard on mastering it so he could move up! It amazed me so we borrowed it. It took all of Friday and here we are Saturday and she is officially on her own 2 wheel bike!!!! Yeah Emmakate!!!

Check out the video!!

I am now a huge believer in the "skut"!!! Great job sweetie!!!!!

Kindergarten Graduation 2011

2011-06-06T22:00:00.001-07:00

As you read, last Thursday was the last day of school and Kindergarten Graduation at Valley Christian Schools. The children needed to be back at school at 5:30pm as graduation for Mrs Carlson's class was at 6pm. We brought EmmaKate back all dolled up, hair curled, with a touch of lip gloss per her request. We walked in to the classroom and it was all cleaned out with all their artwork, name tags, writings, and drawings that had been sent home earlier that day. Instead, only lay a graduation cap where their name tag once was...and a graduation gown ready to slip on. The kids were so excited and each couldn't wait to put their cap on!

We left and found out seats in the chapel and waited for the grand entrance. The kids followed their teacher in and took their seats. The principal prayed, the children said their pledges to the American flag, Christian flag and the Bible as they do each day. Then the ceremony began! The children had two song/dances to perform followed by a really neat slideshow of the year, of which we all received a copy. Then each child was called up by name to receive their little diploma and picture with their beloved teacher. Click here for the video of EmmaKate. Next was the group photo and then a conga line dance out lead by Mrs Carlson herself.

Following graduation, we enjoyed an ice cream social out on the playground with all the graduates and their families. EmmaKate really enjoyed the evening and was excited to begin thinking of herself as a first grader. Although, we had a slight little meltdown before bed. I think all the hype of year end and leaving kindergarten and her teacher kinda caught up with her so we had some tears but all ended OK and we all enjoyed sleeping in nice and late the next morning!
The girls stayed in their jammies most all of Friday, enjoyed playing their video games at their leisure, changing in and out of their swimsuits, dress up clothes, and whatever else suited their fancy as they played out their imaginary games as they pleased. I had pretty much told them that they could do whatever they wanted (within reason of course) that very special day after school ended. It was fun for me to watch as I lay sick with my horrible cold on the couch all day!

Now, the first week of summer has begun. Swim lessons started today for EmmaKate and we are getting ready to cheer Robb on in his triathalon this weekend and welcome my mom, Ama next week. Lots of fun to come this summer!!

Happy graduation EmmaKate! We are super proud of you and can't wait to see you in FIRST GRADE!!! Click here to see all the photos of graduation.

Oh, and here are two fun photos: the first day of kindergarten and the last day of kindergarten!!

Memorial Day and Beyond...

2011-06-06T20:25:00.000-07:00

Okay...I realize I am way behind on blogging as I am just now updating this with Memorial Day but you'll see why when you read this post! I have been non-stop busy since prior to the Memorial Day weekend. So much so that I ran and stressed myself into one doozy of a cold that I am just now getting over. UGH

Backing up to before the holiday weekend...Robb's folks arrived in town the Saturday before Memorial Day weekend. We were planning on spending the upcoming long holiday weekend up in the Russian River Valley again, as we did a couple of years ago. They had rented a home right on the river and Robb's brother and his family were driving down from Seattle to join us all. So, his folks came in and stayed with us a few days prior to driving up on Wednesday to the Russian River. We then followed up on Thursday after picking up EK from school. We spent the weekend having fun down by the river, doing a lot of wine tasting, picnicing, and just hanging out together. We hit our beloved Hanna Winery for a long and lovely day and were spoiled rotten by the wonderful folks at Hanna!! We also hit another fave, Lambert Bridge, but unfortunately our picnic was cut short by the rain. We then tried a few new ones; Mishon Vineyards, Devor Winery, and of course had to hit Korbel once again for some of their sparklings! We all loved the getaway and the girls and the dogs loved romping in the river again!

Robb's folks came back with us on Sunday for a couple of days and then headed home for Houston on Tuesday. After saying goodbye, I headed for the grocery store and party store as I was hosting an "end of year" party for my discipleship group at church. They wanted me to do a wine and cheese party which turned into a "heavy" appetizer (meaning dinner) and wine party for my gal pals! I ended up doing a fun smorgesboard of lots of tasty treats from; pulled pork sliders with 2 different bbq sauces, a roasted mushroom pizza, a tomato/basil/goat cheese pizza, herb marinated grilled shrimp skewers, roasted prosciutto wrapped asparagus spears, hot artichoke dip, crostini with gorgonzola/pears/walnuts, and a large cheese tray with 6 different cheeses and crackers...and of course lots of wine!! I had picked up Korbel's Chardoney and Zinfindel when we were up in Russian River. Little know fact, Korbel sells champagne by the truck load as you know BUT they also make wine that you can only buy at their winery. And, it's good!!!

Robb came home and took the girls out for dinner and then they "snuck" back home and through the backyard and into our bedroom to curl up in our bed and watch a movie and go to sleep...all the while we had out girls' party. It was fun for all...including Robb and the girls!

That was Wednesday night. Thursday was the last day of school and Thursday night was Kindergarten graduation. I dropped EK off at school for her final day and Mrs Carlson asked me to come into the classroom for a minute. She was so sweet and presented me with a beautiful plant, a card made by all the children, and a thank you from her for helping her out all year. It was super sweet and then she took my picture with all the kiddos. Too fun!! I then came home and worked on her year-end gift before pick up and graduation.

Graduation was super sweet and deserves a post all unto it's own. See the next post!!!

Following graduation, we enjoyed the best, most relaxing, fun Friday...and then I came down with the worst, most miserable, yucky cold from all the stress from the past week is my guess. Well, it was worth it cause I had a blast doing it all!

Okay, so check out graduation. Super stinkin' cute!!!

Butterflies and Clare B!

2011-05-19T19:10:00.000-07:00

Today was an extra special day!! EmmaKate's school welcomed 50 adult Monarch butterflies for the kids to enjoy and experience. Each year they set up a butterfly tent and let each class walk thru and enjoy watching, holding, and feeding the butterflies before they begin their migration.

I volunteered to help with EmmaKate's class and their adventure to the butterfly tent. They set the tent up in an empty classroom and filled the remainder of the room with information about the Monarch butterfly in all sorts of forms from puzzels to microscopes, crafts to watching the life cycle of the butterfly. The kids had a blast but all were anticipating getting in the tent with the butterflies! The class was divided in half and EmmaKate was in the second group to go in. It was such fun!! I even had a great time and was amazed by holding these butterflies!! They were so sweet and friendly and loved licking the sugar water off all our fingers.

Here are some pics. It was hard to take many inside the tent but here is what I have.

The kids getting ready to go in the tent.

EmmaKate looking at all the butterfly exhibits.

Inside the tent were 50 adult Monarch butterflies.

They were so easy to hold.

I just loved this picture of her friend James!

Hannah and I went and picked EmmaKate up after school then headed up to Palo Alto to visit my cousin Clare B. Clare is my mom's brother's (my Uncle Art) daughter and she in town with her tennis team from UVA for the finals. They made the "sweet 16" and are playing at Stanford this week. It was SUCH fun to see her!! She had met EmmaKate before but had not met Hannah until yesterday. Oh, the girls just loved her and we had a really great visit!! Hopefully we'll get a chance to see her again before she heads back to Virginia. Here is a cute pic of her and the girls.

Good luck Clare on your matches!!!

AWANAS Award Night

2011-05-19T13:52:00.000-07:00

This past Wednesday was the last AWANAS night for the year and this night was special for all the children as it was awards night! The children have been working hard all year learning verses, playing team games, and attending each week in order to receive their final awards at year end.

EmmaKate did great and really enjoyed the year. She not only finished her entire AWANAS book but also completed her REVIEW book as well! She has an amazing ability for memorization and simply doesn't forget it once she has learned it which made the Review book fairly easy for her.

She received her final jewel to fill her Sparks wings, a patch for the completion of her Review book, and a ribbon for completing her entire book. It was a cute ceremony. The children got up by group and sang their AWANAS songs for all of us and then were presented their awards.

Here are a few of the pictures from the night as well as links to the videos I took. Congratualtions EmmaKate on your big accomplishment in AWANAS this year!!!

Here are some cute videos of her group, Sparks, singing their opening songs.

Video One

Video Two

Video Three - Receiving her ribbon

Happy Mother's Day!

2011-05-08T17:37:00.000-07:00

This Mother's Day started out "iffy" but ended exceptionally well actually! We got up this morning and I got the longest, most delightful shower of my child included life. The serenity didn't last long however and was followed by the relentless, yet constant struggle, of getting everyone dressed and ready and out the door - today, for church. Once in the car, we were doing OK. Stopped for Starbucks along the way and today I was invited to EmmaKate's class for a special Mother's Day tea/brunch. Robb got to escort Hannah to little church and sub for me in class so I could attend the Mother's Day thing upstairs.

It was sweet. We were welcomed to the kinder class with a light breakfast followed by doing a cute little craft with our child. Next was a fun little game of "How well do you know your Mother". The children were asked to leave the room and each of the mom's answered 3 questions; What is your favorite TV show, What was your favority vacation, and What is your favorite store to shop in. The kids came back in and one by one each Mother/Child duo was asked to come up and play the game where the teacher asked the child the 3 questions. The answers were hilarious! Most got at least one right. A few who were "helped" got all three right. We came in with 2 correct! The TV show did us in!! It was fun and everyone got a good laugh for the morning.

We went downstairs to pick up Hannah and Robb and made our usual trek for the playground for some playtime/visit time. Today however was cut short as we were heading up to Picchetti Winery for the afternoon and picnic with our friends the Moore's. The "leaving early" did not go over well with EK and she shared it with us and everyone else with a lot of crying and carrying on as we exited the playground. Only to soon be joined by her sister as she wanted to be carried and we both had our hands full which forced her to walk, much to her sha-grin! So imagine our little clan walking through the parking with 2 girls loudly crying on and on and on - we were definitely there for the onlookers! About half way to the car Hannah bursts out "This is the WORST Mother's Day EVER!"

By the time we arrived home, all tears had been shed and we changed clothes, packed up and were out the door again and on our way to Picchetti. We grabbed a nice spot on the lawn and waited for Brian, Amy and their kids. Amy is my foodie friend I blogged about on Easter so this was sure to be a tasty picnic. Picchetti is known for their family-friendliness and for the "livestock" on property which is a huge hit with the kid population. They have peacocks running amok, chickens, bunnies, and a lake full of fish, frogs and turtles to name a few. A beautiful winery with really gorgeous grounds and lots of room to spread out and explore while tasting and picnicing. Perfect for kids!!

Well,we were enjoying our lunch and wine and the kids were off playing when we heard this horrible scream followed by a second scream and crying. All of us turned trying to figure out who was making that horrible sound when out of the trees come our 2 girls running, crying, screaming and mumbling something about a chicken. Yep - you guessed it. Apparently, we needed to have a little talk about what chickens like and more importantly, do not like. For example, chickens do not like to try and be picked up and if you do try to attempt this be prepared to be pecked! Hannah got the short end of the stick on this one and found out first hand what "being pecked" in the tummy by a chicken feels like and I am guessing she was not a fan!! Add that to lessons of life!! I am only imagining the look on their faces when that chicken reared up, wings flapping, and jumped up on her pecking her in the stomach. Something she won't forget I'm certain!!

Following the pecking incident, we did enjoy a lovely afternoon and tasting while the kids enjoyed a nature and frog hunt. We wrapped up our afternoon around 4pm and headed home for baths, dinner and bedtime for 2 and then Robb treated me to a delicious dinner. We grilled out a nice filet topped with caramelised balsamic onions and a creme fraiche mustard sauce. Delish!!!!

I hope you had a wonderful Mother's Day as well!! Click the link below for some pictures of our afternoon.

Picchetti Winery Photos

Catch Up - Still EK's Birthday!

2011-05-08T17:13:00.000-07:00

OK...I realize this is so last weekend and overdue but we have been having quirkiness issues with our internet and I have been unable to do much posting in the last week or so. Last Sunday we had a birthday party for EmmaKate at Sky High Jump for 10 of her best little girlfriends. It was called an "All Girls' Jump Party" with the theme of Horses, as that is what she is totally into right now.

It was a really fun pary and the girls had a great time. The party was from 2-4pm and at this place that is essentially one large trampoline, floor to walls, literally!! It was so cool and super fun and the girls jumped themselves into sheer exhaustion! We had pizza and a really cute horse themed cake with horse themed gift bags for all our guests.

Click here for some pics from the afternoon. I'll warn you, most are blurry - hence the constant jumping of the girls but you'll get the idea of the day!! Happy 6th birthday sweet girl!!!

Here are some videos to give you a sense of the day! They had a LOT of fun!!!
Video One

Video Two

Video Three

Video Four

Happy Birthday Video

It's Official....

2011-05-01T17:35:00.001-07:00

.....We have 2 wiggly teeth!!

Finally!!!

Happy 6th Birthday EmmaKate!

2011-04-27T10:48:00.000-07:00

Tuesday was EmmaKate's 6th birthday!! We had such a fun day with her! We started the day with a yummy breakfast with her favorite muffins then off to school wearing her special "6" birthday shirt. She wasn't able to bring in her cupcakes and celebrate with the class on Tuesday as there is another girl with her same birthday who had asked first. So we'll have her celebration on Thursday with her class. She was OK with that idea but a little bummed I think. So....Hannah and I decided to sneak up to school early and steal her for the rest of the day for some birthday FUN!!

We got up to school right before lunch and surprised her in her classroom. She wanted all of us to stay and have lunch with her friends. So we did and then we bid them farewell and we were off. First surprise stop....Putt Putt Golf! We spent the afternoon hitting, smacking, pushing, and simply throwing that little golf ball all around the course. Click here for those whacky pictures!!!

Next, we came home to have a surprise early home arrival from Daddy!! We opened gifts, sang Happy Birthday, had some cake and then whisked her away to their all time fave dinner spot....Chuck E Cheese!

Two hours, 100 tokens and 301 won tickets later we walked out with 2 rubber snakes, a set of glow in the dark vampire teeth and Chuck's branded coloring markers. Total Success!!!

At home we enjoyed fun phone call wishes from the grandparents and Uncle Robert and the gang....all with their rendition of Happy Birthday! A super fun way to end the evening!! We then put a very tired birthday girl and her little sister to bed and called it a GREAT day!

Happy Birthday to our sweet BIG 6 year old girl!!!

Happy Easter!

2011-04-26T10:04:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter to you all!!

We had a wonderful Easter this year and the girls thoroughly enjoyed everything from the Easter Bunny to their beautiful dresses to their special Easter programs at church....and of course, the big egg hunt!

I took the girls to visit "the Bunny" on Thursday and oddly, we were the only ones there for a picture. Granted we got there right at 10am when Stanford Mall opened but I still found it strange that this close to Easter, all the late mom's like me would be in line for the coveted picture. Oh well! We got tons of time with the Bunny and the girls really had a fun visit with him. You can see all the pictures by clicking here for the album.

This Sunday was really special. I was asked to be on the team to teach the Kindergartners thru 5th graders this year about the Easter Story. We did "stations" for each event over the weekend and sent the kids on a "tour" thru each station. They followed Jesus thru the Last Supper, the Garden of Gestheme, the Court, the Crucifixtion and finally the Resurection. They participated in the story at each station and then we all ended in the Resurection station at the end. It was really neat and kids seemed to really love it. I taught the Crucifixtion station - I know, seriously the hardest to teach ages 5 all the way to 10!! But, it went really well and they seemed to get it and get this part of the story. I had the 3rd/4th graders create me a mural as a backdrop and one of the elders make me 3 life size wooden crosses. I then got soldier costumes for my "guards", downloaded the musical tracks from the movie, the Passion, and came up with 2 activites in addition to my short lesson. And, by the way....we had 7 minutes per group of kids before they moved to the next station! Here are a few pic's of the stations we did.

The Crucifixtion

The cross after all the children added their names.

The Court and Peter's Denial

Last Supper

Garden of Gestheme

Robb brought the girls home after first service as I had to teach both services Sunday. Following church we enjoyed Easter dinner with our sweet friends Amy & Brian Moore. They have 2 kids, Scott (4) and Linnaea (3) and the girls really enjoy playing with their kiddos so it was to be fun for all. Amy is my foodie friend which made this meal super fun!! We met on Friday and planned each course, with wine pairing....and it turned out awesome!! We started off out on the patio with an appetizer tray full of fun cheeses from France to Sonoma and some artichoke brushetta paired with a Hanna Winery Rose'. Next, we moved inside for the second course which was grilled asparagus with a Meyer Lemon vinagerette topped with prociutto paired with a Byington Liage. The main course was grilled Lamb with a Mint Marscapone Pesto, Red Skin Mashers, and light green salad with feta, pecans, berries and a light dressing paired with a wonderful Hanna Winery Syrah. Dessert included delicious homemade madelines and fresh strawberry's paired with a white port. Dinner was perfect as was the company!! I could not have pulled it off without my sweet foodie friend!

Here are some pics of the afternoon and the kids Easter Egg Hunt! Hope you had a wonderful Easter weekend. He is RISEN!!!

Hannah's Easter Basket

Check out this Bunny!!

EmmaKate's Easter Basket

Is this one not just the cutest!!

The table set for Easter morning!

Easter afternoon...the FUN BALL appears!

Ready to Roll!

My cheese platter for appetizers.

Our Easter table.

Kids ready for the hunt!

Happy Easter again!!!

Liberia 2011

2011-04-21T15:16:00.000-07:00

Robb returned safe and sound from Liberia Tuesday night and was greeted with banners, balloons, flowers, and the squeals of two little girls!! We all were super excited to see him and have him home again after 10 long days.

The Liberian team arrived home to SFO about 5pm following a day of rest in Atlanta. They were brought back to the church by vans where families welcomed them with open arms!

Here are a few pictures from his welcome home and a link to the photos he took in Liberia. He had an amazing time and had tons of stories to share! I'll have to let him blog about them when he catches back up to Pacific Coast time. In the meantime, enjoy seeing his trip here....

Click here to see Robb's incredible pictures from Liberia!!!

Palm Sunday

2011-04-17T20:23:00.000-07:00

Today was Palm Sunday and our church celebrated with beautiful music, inspiring and uplifting songs, a great message and a visit from all the children grades K-5. It was so stinkin' cute!! The children all were given palm branches and walked into the beginning of the service singing "Hosanna" waving their palm branches. They got up on stage and sang 2 more songs then were asked to join the congregation for the remaining part of the service.

Hannah and I stood and watched EmmaKate walk down the aisle with her palm branch and then snuck up the aisle and sat and watched her sing. It was so sweet to hear the kiddos and Hannah thoroughly enjoyed seeing EmmaKate on stage.

I won't bore you with a lot of writing as I'm sure you'd rather watch the videos but we had a really great Sunday together. It's 2 more days and a wake up til Robb gets home and I know everyone is getting anxious so to keep things going, I brought the girls home after church and we had lunch then after a quick run to the store we headed off to the club for an afternoon of swimming to help get our wiggles out and pass the time a bit. They had a blast!! Met a couple new friends, played some great games, and ultimately got themselves nice and worn out.

I L O V E love the pool!!!!

All are sound asleep now....I am blogging and answering emails with a nice glass of wine...the pups are snoring on the couch....life is good!! Robb arrives home Tuesday night so we are planning a nice welcome home for him and the team. More to come on that later...

For now...here are some cute videos of this morning at church.

The others were too large so I uploaded them to YouTube. Click the links below to see EK sing!!

Click here for her Singing in church.

Click here for her second song Singing in church.

Happy Easter week!!

Keeping Busy!!

2011-04-12T11:21:00.000-07:00

With Robb leaving for Liberia last Saturday, the girls and I have been thinking of and making our plans to keep us busy and entertained! So far we have been quite successful!! If you don't know, let me catch you up. Robb signed up to go on a 10 day mission trip to Liberia with our church. It's through Vision Trust and for a village the church has supported over there for many years. About every 2 years, they send a team over to do a variety of things from vacation bible school, new construction, pastoral counseling, and medical attention. Robb signed up for the construction team and is going to be building a school. As you can imagine, this is a very impoverished part of Africa and specifically this particular village. He was really excited and looking forward to serving. We sponsored a child named Christian. He is the same age as EmmaKate which we thought would be a fun and exciting learning experience for her. We wrote letters, colored pictures, and purchased him some new coloring books and crayons and hope they can become pen pals. Robb will get to meet him and spend some time with him which is really exciting! With this trip on the horizon, my mom had planned to come out and spend the 2 weeks with us which was going to be super helpful and super fun! Sadly, my dad had to have a knee replacement surgery and timing wise with his recovery she had to postpone her trip to a later date. So the girls and I are on our own...thus my thinking of and planning things to do to keep us entertained and busy!! The weeks are easy and pretty scheduled with school, gymnastics, AWANAS, ballet, and various playdates. The weekends are harder because it's typically time spent with Robb and as a family. But, never fear....we are quite resourceful and have filled up our weekends quite nicely! Here's a quick run down of our plans:

Saturday - after a few quick errands and lunch out, we went to "opening day" at the club and spend the better part of the afternoon swimming in the pool! The girls had a blast and it totally wore them out (NICE!) for the night.

Sunday - after church and lunch out, we took a little nap and headed to the Mtn View highschool gym to play with a couple other families from church. The girls love going there to play with the other kiddos and wear themselves out (Again, NICE!).

Monday - after picking up EK from school, we headed over to this really fun place in Santa Clara called Jump Sky High. It's a huge facility that is basically a solid trampoline, floors and walls, for the kids to jump on! It is where we are hosting EK's birthday this year also. The girls jumped for the afternoon and were totally worn out! (See my theme!?!)

Tuesday - after school we have gymnastics today. Fun!

Wednesday - we have AWANAS in the evening. Always a huge hit!!

Thursday - after school, heading to one of EK's BFF's house to play for the afternoon. Fun for them and fun for me!

Friday - another playdate after school. Again, fun for them and fun for me!

Saturday - either hanging out with our sweet friends, the Byrnes or going to the beach...or going to the beach with the Byrnes! Either way - fun is involved!

Sunday - church and still I'm working on what our afternoon will look like. Guaranteed to be something that involves wearing them out!!

Monday - spring break begins and we are off to the zoo with friends!

Tuesday - well, Robb comes back and my 10 days of being a single parent are over!!

I think we'll make it just fine and the girls will be so excited to have him back home! We are looking forward to hearing of his trip and seeing all the pictures of his adventures. Well, we are off to begin our Tuesday.

EmmaKate's first Jog-a-thon!

2011-04-01T21:27:00.000-07:00

Today was EmmaKate's first Jog-a-thon at Valley Christian Elementary school. As you can guess, this was a fund raiser for the school and as you know, you could either donate a lump sum or sign up for pledge's per lap. Robb and I donated $20 to get her started and get her a 'Jog-a-thon" tshirt. We then asked the grandparents if they would like to donate. Of course, both said YES! We were set and she was registered and ready to go. I had to explain what a "jog-a-thon" was...more specifically, I had to explain it was NOT a race and that no one "wins" to my darling yet very competitive child. I took her to school on Friday and walked her to her classroom where she joined all her classmate's in their t-shirts. I then went to hang out with the other parents at the "race course". Kindergarten was to jog at 9:15am this morning. They were so cute and so "little" when they came out following the first graders. The principal introduced the race, said a little prayer for the students, and the "gun" went off and off they went! All the kids bolted off the starting line like there was fire on their tails! They ran their hardest and then you soon saw the various groups settle into a jog and then came the walk. Pacing is not part of their vocabulary!! The kids seem to have a great time....as seen in the pictures! Thanks Ama & Papa and Grandma & Grandpa Butch for supporting her!!! She loved it!!!

For the entire race, click here to see more pictures!!

The Good Times did not roll on....

2011-03-29T17:35:00.000-07:00

After dodging so many obstacles last week for Hannah's 3rd birthday, ie: Robb almost not making it on her special day to celebrate with her, the rain shutting us out of a park birthday party, etc. ...we made it fine through it all and everything worked out almost better than planned. It was a happy birthday for sweet Hannah Grace as you probably saw in the pictures! Until Sunday. I noticed EK was not totally herself on Saturday but just thought she was tired or over stimulated or something. Sunday afternoon after church, she was literally lathargic, only wanting to lay around and watch tv...totally not like her! That night the fever, ears, cough, everthing kicked into high gear. Monday morning we were at Urgent Care only to be diagnosed with a ear infection, pnuemonia, and bronchisomething that I can't pronounce. Nice! I had Hannah checked just in case. She was "on the verge" of an ear infection and had "rattles" in her lungs. No doubt on the verge of pneumonia. Again, Nice!! So, 2 1/2 hours, 2 zpacks and 2 inhalers later, we were on our way home and popped in Toy Story 1, 2 and 3 and called it a day! Good to know...2 days later EK was back at school and both girls were up and back to their old selves again! Nothing like a calm wind down after a big event - HA!

Hannah's 3rd Birthday Party!

2011-03-27T20:28:00.000-07:00

Saturday we had Hannah's 3rd birthday party with friends. Originally, we had planned it at a local park filled with games, fun, pizza and cake. Sadly, I have been in a losing battle with Mother Nature this last week and the rains just refused to let up! So, last minute we moved it back to our house however, with so many people coming I was worried about space and activites. Then it hit me....bounce house!! Kids LOVE bounce houses and it works well in the rain and provides a whole extra room to play!

Hannah's birthday theme was Strawberry Shortcake this year. She loves her and that was what she wanted - a Strawberry Shortcake party and cake! So she shall have!! So, thanks to the internet...I found a Strawberry Shortcake bounce house that was available last minute, booked it for the day, and we were set! I then turned the garage into an additional play area complete with bubbles, hopscotch, our play kitchen, and a picnic area for the kids. It worked beautifully!! Guests arrived and we all just spread out inside, outside and into the bounce house despite the rain pouring down! Everyone seemed to have a great time...especially the birthday girl!

Following the party our sweet beloved friends, the Byrnes, had planned to stay and enjoy the rest of the afternoon and dinner with us. The girls were super excited as they have not seen Julia and Samantha in months! All the girls had a great afternoon together!! We grilled out flank steak and made a flank steak, blue cheese, and carmalized onion panini with a roasted garlic mayonaise on fresh foccicia Robb and the girls made that afternoon. It was delish!!

You can see pictures of the party and Hannah having a Happy 3rd Birthday!!

Happy 3rd Birthday Hannah!!

2011-03-23T15:19:00.000-07:00

Our sweet baby girl turned 3 on Monday! I just can't believe it!! She had such a terrific and wonderful day...as you can see in the photos....and still more to come with her party this weekend.

All was not going to go quite as well we initially thought. Robb has been working these crazy long hours for the last week or so, including all last weekend, closing down his biggest project to date. And, he had told me that he was going to have to work late the first part of this week which would have included missing Hannah's bday on Monday. So, I had asked her if we could postpone her bday celebration til Wednesday so Daddy could join us. She obliged but just didn't seem happy about her bday. She and I took EK to school on Monday and I tried to make the day fun for her. We stopped and got her some balloons and a new Dora ball, then she went and picked out a cake, then we decided to go to ChuckeCheese that night for dinner - just us girls. About 3pm that afternoon, Robb called and asked if he could come home for about 30 minutes could we celebrate her birthday, open gifts, have cake, the works before he had to turn around and head back to work for the night. I got off the phone and told Hannah that Daddy was coming home and we were going to celebrate tonight instead of Wednesday. You would have thought I just gave her a pony!! Her whole demeanor changed and she went running around the house singing, "It's my birthday, It's my birthday!" as loud as she could. I brought out her birthday girl shirt and she squealed with delight to put it on and show the world it was HER special day! Robb won Dad of the Year that day!!

So, as you'll see in the photos Robb in fact came home, we opened gifts, lit the candle, sang happy birthday, had cake and then he headed back to work and the girls and I headed to ChuckeCheese with friends for a dinner celebration. She loved ChuckeCheese and had a blast on the rides and snuggling with the Chuck the mouse. It was in fact the best birthday ever for her!

Here is the link to the photos. Happy 3rd Birthday sweet little Hannah Grace!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2011-03-17T16:42:00.000-07:00

KISS US!

We're a little bit Irish and just a lot adorable!

Happy St. Patty's Day to ya!!

EK the Gymnast!

2011-03-17T11:36:00.000-07:00

OK, so if you were wondering....Robb and I had a fabulous time on our weekend getaway! Despite the rain, we enjoyed a wonderful day at Hanna Winery tasting and picking out our selections for our wine shipment. I think we ended up bringing home like 6 cases plus a few trinkety things for me! We enjoyed a great picnic indoors in their member dining area surrounded by windows where we watched the rain pour down on the vines and tasters running in and out getting soaked...some even taking a spill or two trying to get to their car. Made for an interesting afternoon of people watching! Dinner was to die for. The venue was very relaxing yet quaint and posh. The menu was so interesting and fun as we got to try things we have never had before and probably wouldn't think to order on our own. The wine pairings were perfect and the hotel was everything we had been told. Simply awesome!

As for the girls, well they too had a great weekend away from us! Katie entertained them very well with games, hairdo's, manicures, pedicures, park outings, and more. So much so that she said Hannah fell asleep on the couch at 6:45pm and was completely out for the night! I guess a great day!! That night, the girls started off in their beds but by morning I was told the line up in our big bed went: Katie, Hannah, EmmaKate, Kutya (our dog), and Sampson (Katie's dog). All sleeping quite soundly! Ivy (our other dog) happily stretched out all by herself on the couch. Smart! Katie got EK off to school just fine and she was more than excited to show off her sitter to her teacher and friends. All in all....it went great and we are ready to go again and it seems the girls are ready for another sleepover!! HA Too bad it cost me a small fortune!!

Now, onto the topic of this post....Gymnastics! EmmaKate just started gymnastics last week and is absolutely loving it! She has been begging to go and so we found this great gym pretty close to the house thanks to my friend Jessica. She has her daughter there and has enjoyed it so we gave it a go and are now hooked. She goes every Tuesday afternoons after school now and looks forward to it each week. Here are a few pictures of her first day. It's hard to see her in some as the viewing area for parents is upstairs behind glass but Hannah and I snuck down onto the floor (like any good mom and sister would do!!) to get some close ups!

Weekend Getaway!

2011-03-12T17:51:00.000-08:00

Robb and I are off for a weekend getaway to Sonoma this weekend! Yahooo!!! We have been talking about it for a while now and about a month or so ago, we got notice that it was barrel tasting the first two weekends in March in Sonoma Valley. We were already planning on going up to Hanna Winery sometime in March to pick out and pick up our wine shipment and the whole barrel tasting weekend simply sealed the deal for us to just stay up there and enjoy the whole weekend of it.

We are staying at Hotel Healdsburg in downtown Healdsburg. I can't wait! One, I have been wanting to explore the quaint little town of Healdsburg for a very long time so browsing and shopping, here I come! Two, the hotel we booked looks just wonderful! It is a resort unto itself and has a spa, pool, and the Dry Creek Kitchen resteraunt by Charlie Palmer in which we have booked the Gourmet Getaway that includes something like a 6 course meal with wine flights prepared by the well reknowed chef. So on tap for our weekend...Hanna Winery for barrel tasting, a picnic, and selecting our wine shipment, more barrel tasting throughout the Sonoma Valley, checking out downtown Healdsburg, dinner at the Dry Creek Kitchen, something fabulous at the spa, and wrapping it up on our way home at Guy Fieri's Johnny Garlic's in Santa Rosa (we've been dying to stop by his place every time we are up that way!!).

Oh, the girls! You are probably wondering about the girls during this lovely little jaunt. Well, seeing as we can't just leave them with food out on the counter....we are having their nanny, Katie, come and stay with them. This will be the first time she has cared for them overnight and the first time we have left them with anyone other than like my mom. I'm actually not worried about it at all. They have been with Katie now over 2 years and see her everyday plus anytime we go out so she is just a part of the family and they know it and feel it. I think they'll be just fine and actually have a ball! She is making it a girly sleepover complete with playing dress up, manicure's, pedicure's, hair updo's, popcorn, pizza, movies, and the list goes on! We are coming home Monday afternoon so she is even taking EmmaKate to school on Monday morning!!

So, I'll fill you in on all the fun when we return. Off to pack and get the house ready to well, be destroyed by giggly girls!!

President's Day with the Loberg's!

2011-03-01T20:35:00.000-08:00

President's Day weekend was so great this year! Robert, Katherine and the cousins came up for the long weekend and we had a super duper fun time!

They arrived early Friday afternoon, just after I picked up EK from school at 12:30pm. Oh the squeals could have been heard in Hawaii!! We settled in, got some wine and nibbles and hung out catching up, waiting for Robb to arrive home from work to join us. The evening was great! The kids all had such a blast - we hardly saw them! The adults did as well catching up, making new plans, laughing and comiserating over life.

The weekend weather proved little to be desired as the biggest rain storm moved in and decided to settle in and get comfy but we battled it out with lots of fun food, outings to get wiggles out, and good ole fashioned playtime (adults included lots of wine!).

All in all...it was a great weekend and we can't wait for our next get together! Here are some pics from our weekend.

Aidan, the super hero!

Ashyln and her best buddy!

Uncle Robert and his favorite oldest niece!

EmmaKate and Aidan going at it on the Wii.

Auntie Katherine enjoying watching the kids and the Wii.

What a great Auntie!!

The girls get glamourous while Aidan naps.

Time to make some fresh bread!

Aidan found the orange tree out back!

I'd say they are excited to make fresh bread!

Aidan takes on the "pounding of the dough" seriously!

Waiting patiently as the bread bakes. Tom & Jerry helped!

Robb gets bedtime duty.

Bathtime is always fun with cousins!!

A great weekend...way too short as always...more to come soon! Thanks for a great visit ya'll.

This is Mine!

2011-03-01T20:22:00.000-08:00

EmmaKate has been learning the sounds and words that go along with "th", "ch", and "sh" in school recently. She comes home telling me all the words she can think of that begin with one of these sounds. She's been doing really good at it too.

So, tonight Robb took her and the dogs on a walk around the block while Hannah and I finished up getting dinner ready. She was telling him of the new things she has been learning in school, including her new sounds. He then began asking her to use words in a sentence that began with "ch"...then "sh"...and finally "th". When he asked her for a word, she thought and said "This". When he asked her to use it in a sentence, her response was...... "THIS is mine!"

You may not get the irony and humor of this comment...but my mother sure does!!! It is a common theme in our house right now! So Classic EmmaKate!!!

Valentines and then some...

2011-02-25T19:53:00.000-08:00

OK...so it has been a couple of weeks since I have posted anything and I bet you (meaning the grandparents especially!) are wondering "where are my valentines updates and pics?". Well, here they are and then some!

Valentines was super fun this year! For EK, it fell on a school day which made it all the more special. I helped organize the Valentine Party at her school. It went over very well and was really cute. We came up with three activities for the children during the set party time. We played Valentine Bingo using Valentine bingo cards and candy hearts as markers, of which the kids got to keep and take home. We then decorated heart shaped cookies that I had made ahead of time. I brought in icing and sprinkles and little heart candies to decorate and the kids had a great time. Following the sugar high they all received, we played a Valentine version of "pin the tail on the donkey" but it was "pin the heart on the heart". My friend Jessica, EK's BFF Madison's mom, had taken face pictures of all the children earlier that week and had printed them and cut them in the shape of hearts. She then cut out a really large heart and we let the kids pin their photo to the big heart. At the end of the game, we gave it to the teacher as a big Valentine from all the children. She loved it!

That same day, Hannah got to decorate her own heart shaped cookies at home with me and her nanny. She had a blast getting full control of all the sprinkles!! All in all, it was a great Valentines Day and the girls thoroughly enjoyed all their little Valentine gifts and surprises from eveyone. Thank you for spoiling them!!

Since then...we enjoyed Presidents Day weekend with my brother and his family! They came up early Friday and stayed the weekend. Oh my goodness did we all have fun!! The kids disappeared and played...the boys enjoyed those conversations only they would enjoy over a nice Cab...and Katherine and I salivated in our "girl time" curled up on the couch over everything white in the fridge from Voigners to Chard's. We were so sad to see them go but planned all our next get togethers so we are good on spending time together for the rest of the year. We have cousin birthday's coming up that we'll enjoy together, a vacation to Yosimete in August, the boys are going camping in the Channel Islands while Katherine and I hang with the kids (maybe even at Disneyland!) and Christmas together with my folks. A fun rest of the year together!

After the weekend, we had winter break. EmmaKate was off of school for the week and Robb traveled to DC again for work. Before he left we took the girls swimming up at an indoor pool in Menlo Park - they loved it and are anxious to get back into swim lessons this summer. The rest of the week was filled with lots of playtime and playdates, dinners with friends, and park outings in the fridgid cold.

The week has now come to an end and school resumes on Monday. But before that, Daddy and Mommy get some "adult time" on Sunday! We are heading up to Byington Winery for our quarterly outing with our winery group. We will do a tasting and picnic and afternoon of just relaxation in the Santa Cruz mountains. Ahhh...we can't wait! I'll give you all the scoop later however, I will tell you that this time I am only in charge of appetizers (plus hosting, planning, reserving, and coordinating - but I love all that stuff!). The appetizers I am working on are a parmasean tuille sprinkled with thyme, blue cheese and chive straws, goat cheese and thyme stuffed dates wrapped in prociutto, crostini with creamy gorgonzola cheese, pear and pecan, and an array of cheese and crackers. Hopefully it all comes out well!

Okay..so here are the long awaited pictures of Valentine's Day at EmmaKate's school. Happy weekend to you!!

This was the car that EK built for AWANAS drive in movie night. She won an award for it! She was so proud of her "flower car"!!

Valentine's Day at EmmaKate's school.

The Valentine the children gave to the teacher.

Ice skating with Hannah.

EmmaKate did the rail on her own but loved skating one handed with me too!

Pictures of Robert and Katherine's visit coming next!! Stay tuned...

Information Highway

2011-02-15T19:57:00.000-08:00

Hooray, Hooray...I am back on the Information Highway!!! Can I just tell you how much I looovve and missed the Internet! OK, back story...we have been having terrible issues with, we'll call it, a "well known ISP provider" so we decided to change services. Seems simple enough, right! Oh how wrong. Due to a lot of let's say lack of communications, lack of knowledge, and lack of information from the old and new providers and the fact that their systems seriously lack in customer service, we ended up with no Internet for a week and a half. This could not be worse seeing as I work from home and am on the Internet for my job. The "best" our new ISP provider could do for me was, wait for it...dial up! Yep, dial up - show me sympathy, please!! It actually still exists if you can believe it. The best was when I was arguing with our new provider about getting set up quicker than they had planned for us and the little guy on the phone was so pleased to provide me with their dial up option. I finally, very frustratedly, asked him if he had ever used dial up. He sheepishly said No. Enough said!

So, a week and half later and many hours spent on the phone with said service providers we are back up and running with the new ISP provider installed and loving it! Won't be trying that again anytime soon!! Word of advice if you plan to switch in the future...make sure you find out their policy for when they turn you off to when the new company turns you on. You might be surprised at how they lack in this area!!

Ok, now onto other matters at hand....

EmmaKate had "drive in movie night" at AWANAS recently. The children had to make a "car" out of a cardboard box and bring it in to show off and then watch a movie in. She and Hannah worked super hard on their cars and they turned out so cute. EK's was a pink flower bug car complete with wheels, a dashboard and steering wheel and Hannah's, no surprise, was a Dora car also complete with all the amenities. EK won an award for her car that night. She could not have been happier! They have used those cars so much to sit and watch their shows and play with their dolls and animals. Gotta love cheap entertainment!

Let's see...Robb has been in DC this past week for work and the girls and I have been having lots of long playdates and take out so when he got back we just layed low for the weekend doing yard work, hooking up the Internet of course, ballet, church - all the usual since it was beautiful outside and rain is forecasted for the entire week. It was nice to have one of those weekends!

Monday was Valentines Day as you know. EmmaKate had her school Valentine party, of which I will do a post of its own following this. It was super cute and she had a ton of fun. This week we are also going up to Palo Alto to go ice skating for the Make-Up Christmas Party for SRI. They had to cancel in December because of rain so they are trying again however, as I mentioned, we are slated for big time rain this week. We'll see what happens...EK is so looking forward to hitting the ice again. I sure hope we are able to go this time. Even Hannah is wanting to try her hand at skating. Do they make a toddler 7 skate?!? And, yes..the ice rink is outside in Northern California - who would have guessed!!

This weekend we are especially looking forward to!! My brother and his family are coming up for the long weekend. We are super excited and are very much looking forward to their visit. The girls are besides themselves waiting and are going around telling everyone they talk to that their cousins are coming to visit in only 2more days. Seriously, the housekeeper got an earful, albeit she didn't understand most of it, all the kids at church and school know, the neighbors have been apprised, and the guy at the grocery store today was infatically told by Hannah of the upcoming event at our house. Even the UPS guy asked, "so, how many more days til they get here" today!! They arrive early Friday afternoon so I am picking EK up from school early so she can be here when they arrive. She is pretty stoked! It should be a fun weekend, even if it rains.

Well, that's about it and you are caught up from my unwanted hiatus. VDay posts and pics to come! Good night.

So, long short of it all

Jr. Cheer and a Half Time Performance!

2011-01-28T22:13:00.000-08:00

EmmaKate joined the Jr. Cheer team at her school. Valley Christian, this year and has had a ball! They practice once a week after school, from 3:00 - 4:15pm. It makes it a long day for her...but she loves it so who am I too argue!?!

They have been practicing this month for the half time performance for the Girls Varsity Basketball game. Tonight was their performance debut and they did such a great job! It was so cute to see the little ones out there on this huge basketball court. Jr. Cheer is made of kinders thru 3rd grade. Three of the girls, including EK, in her class decided to join this year.

We went to the highschool campus for the first time and oh my...it was huge!! It is a college prepatory campus and seriously looks like a college campus. It was beautiful! It is up on this high hill that you get to by driving up this steep winding road. It's the only thing up there! It was amazing to say the least. We walked to the gym and dropped her off with the other girls in the "wrestling room". We went into the gym and watched the end of the JV basketball game and then out came the Varsity team. Both of us imagined that one day, we would be at these types of events....and wow, it was quite mind boggling!!

Anyway, we watched the first half of the game in anticipation of the half time show. Hannah was on her last minute when finally the time came for the girls to appear and cheer. They were SO stinkin cute! They ran out and got into position. All the little ones waving at their parents! They did a cheer and then a little dance and a pyramid for the finale. Super cute and EK was one of the ones on the top holding her little arms out in a "V"!

I took a million pictures and Robb did the video. It is so cute and so hilarious!

Click on this link on YouTube to see the video of her performance.

Sarah the Snail...

2011-01-24T11:10:00.000-08:00

Meet Sarah the Snail.

Sarah was rescued yesterday from the sandbox by Hannah. I thought Sarah looked quite cozy in the sandbox however, Hannah the newest animal rescuer thought otherwise and that she would prefer the strawberry patch. Sarah was rescued, examined for any shell cracks, and made sure she was mobile enough to carry on her journey wherever that may take her. She was deemed fit to travel and therefore placed in the strawberry plants.

The animal rescuers wanted to make sure Sarah got off OK so....

Do you know just HOW SLOW a snail moves??? Note to self....if you want a nice quiet afternoon, find a snail that needs "rescuing" and make sure she gets where she is going!!

And, yes....it is mid January...and yes, the girls are in swim suits!

Gotta love California!!!

AWANA Family Fun Night

2011-01-24T10:36:00.000-08:00

Wednesday was AWANA Family Fun Night where the families get to shadow their child around all night. It was really fun to watch EmmaKate go thru the motions of saying her pledges, singing the AWANAS songs, doing her craft and saying her memory verse, then listening to the bible story and finally playing in the game/activity that all the kids not-so-patiently wait for! And, I can see why!! Tonight it was Dodge Ball!! I loved that game as a kid...and the best part was that parents were invited to play along. Super fun!

Hannah came along with us as well to the Family Fun Night. She was so excited that she got to "stay" at AWANAS tonight instead of coming home with mom as usual. She'll be ready for Cubbies next year, no problem! She stuck right by her big sister all night and participated in everything! She even pulled up her own chair next to EmmaKate when she was saying her memory verses. And, since we say them a lot in the car, Hannah knows some of them as well and was happy to share her knowledge of the Bible with the leader. EmmaKate was the proud big sister and really took on Hannah all night showing her "the ropes" and making sure she was included in everything.

All in all, it was a really fun night and EmmaKate was so happy and proud to show off her Wednesday fun with us! Here are a few pics taken by her BFF's dad (as I sorely forgot my camera!). Enjoy!!

Our First Report Card!

2011-01-17T15:42:00.000-08:00

January is in full swing for us out here! Christmas is done and all put away....school and work have begun again....extracurricular activites; ballet, cheerleading, playdates, AWANAS, etc. are back in action and somehow I just realized that all of our weekends in January and February are booked solid between birthday parties, family visits, army and a winery outing or two shoved in! Oh well....welcome 2011!!

So, we (I say "we" however "we" means "EK" in this instance!) received our very first report card last Friday in the mail. She had no idea what it was or what it meant and pretty much didn't give a care except when it came to the nice treat/reward she received for the excellent job she is doing. I on the other hand was tearfully excited to get her first little report card from school. And, she is doing GREAT! She received all "C's" meaning "Can do" (the activity or skill) and a couple of "L's" meaning "Learning to do" (the activity or skill). It's the only time her daddy will be thrilled for her to get all "C's"!!! She is really progressing beautifully and the teacher was so complimentary of her. We are really proud of her! In addition to the report card that we received in the mail on Friday, she also brought home another "Principal's Award". This one stated she received it for, "Working hard on cursive writing". THAT she was super excited about! And, THAT she got a Jamba Juice for - her choice!

After such an exciting Friday, what could be better?? Saturday!! It was to be a beautiful day, the best in a long time, so we decided to head over to Thomas Coyne Winery in the Livermore Valley at the last minute for a picnic. We then decided to see if our friends the Byrnes could join us (this is JuJuBee's family for those of you who have met them) and they were able to hook up with us! Yeah fun! We had a great afternoon and the girls had more than a blast seeing each other again. It had been since before Thanksgiving and we were all really missing them! Here are a few pics of our day...

EmmaKate and Julia, aka JuJuB

Samantha bug

Sweet baby Sasha

Blowing bubbles...an all time favorite activity

Sunday was filled with church, a birthday party for our neighbor Kyle (who turned 3) and Robb had a meeting on his Liberia trip that lasted about 3 hours. Of which the girls and I filled our time with lots-o-Wii-fun!! All in all...a great weekend and congrats to EmmaKate again on her terrific first report card and her Principal's Award!!

Hello New Year!!

2011-01-04T20:48:00.000-08:00

Well, I can't believe it! It's actually 2011. Does that still not sound so weird to you '80er's who when you graduated you thought Prince's song "1999" was something you thought you'd never actually see!! HA

So we had a lovely New Years again this year. We spent it with our sweet friends and neighbors the Hagen's. I think we have spent just about every NYE with them since we have moved in to this house. They are super special to us and we just love them! We usually do our traditional crab dinner with them with a running fountain of champagne....however, this year Robb and I got a little "crabbed" out. So instead, we did a prime steak with horseradish sauce and a crab cake on the side while they indulged in the tradition. We still continued with champagne and wine a'flowin!! It was a fun low key NYE...just the way we like it!!

New Years Day was spent with me and a friend running off to Kohl's doing some shopping on their oddly open day while Robb stayed home and played with the girls, plus one (my friend Jamie's daughter Ava). They seemed to have fun...and well, we did of course! Football was the rest of the day and a light supper to help balance out all the rich yummy food we have been consuming the last couple of weeks.

School and work started back up this week. Yeah for school...yuck for work! EmmaKate was really excited to get back to school and she is now staying all day (til 3pm) per her request from last year. Two days into it...and she is loving it! We also enrolled her in "Jr. Cheer". This is an opportunity for girls K-3rd grade to become little cheerleaders, learn cheers, and perform at a highschool basketball game at the end of the month. Seriously!! Today was her first day to stay for Jr Cheer. It is from 3-4:15 every Tuesday. So, this little gal left the house this morning at 8am and didn't get home today until 4:45pm!! What she was amazed most at was the fact that the sun was going down as we were on our way home! What I was most amazed about was what on earth was I supposed to do with all this time in the afternoon!! Granted I have Hannah...but she is super easy and mellow and loves to just play by herself that she is just no trouble at all. We went to pick EmmaKate up today and she had the biggest smile and talked non stop in the car (in between all the bites of hot dog that I had packed for her knowing she was going to be starved!) about how much fun she had being a cheerleader! My little heart just beamed with joy to hear her!!

Let's see...other than that, AWANAS starts again this week along with ballet for EmmaKate. Robb has army this weekend and then heads off to DC for work for a few days. I am trying to plan our next winery outing up at Byington Winery with our wine group this month along with working and volunteering at EK's school and Hannah is just my little side kick hanging with me and being ever so cute!

That about sums up our kick off to 2011. I hope yours was wonderful and a terrific start to the New Year!

Christmas 2010

2010-12-29T21:51:00.000-08:00

Hello and Merry Christmas! I am finally getting around to posting about our Christmas this year. Between family visits and children's/my illnesses...it's been hard to focus on getting this blog updated.

Okay...so, let's begin. Christmas was great this year (aside from the dreaded sick bugs that incessantly hint our home!). Robb's folks arrived late last Thursday night, just in time for Christmas Eve the following morning. The girls woke up to find Grandma and Grandpa Butch and were thrilled to see them! We enjoyed a big breakfast, Grandpa and Robb ran out to pick up our prime rib (Christmas dinner) and our crab (Christmas Eve dinner) and then Grandma and I ran out for some last minute shopping. We then got all dolled up and went to the family church service at 5pm. The girls did pretty well sitting in big church. There is always family friendly songs, which the girls know and love, and a story telling by the pastor in which the children are invited up on stage to sit and listen. This is a HUGE hit with the children! Hannah tried this year but got caught in the middle of the "mob" on stage and kinda freaked. I had to go rescue her and her sweet friend/sitter Milan came and sat with her on the edge and she was perfectly happy. We came home enjoyed the most delicious crab, sourdough bread, salad and wine and then I had Robb and his dad put together "Santa" gifts after the girls were fast asleep.

Christmas morning was fun! I was first up, turning on the trees and village, building a fire, and getting the donut tree ready for nibbles before breakfast. EmmaKate was up first and was thrilled to see what Santa left for her. Hannah soon followed but woke up a little too early and was a bit groggy for a while before she got into it. Many many many gifts later we were done, the girls happy and contently playing, and Maryland Crab Cake Melts were on the griddle. We spent the day playing with the girls, watching football, and slowly getting ready for Christmas dinner.

Christmas dinner was yummy as usual. We have a tradition of doing a prime rib roast with a horseradish crust, a homemade green bean casserole that is just to die for, cinnamon spiced cranberry salad, and this year we changed to a red mashers potato dish and a Greek salad with feta croutons. Turned out really good!! We were all quite happy and fat after all that!

The next day, Grandma and I went out to see what after Christmas sales were to be had. We both found some things at Crate and Barrel, World Market and others. It was nice to get out as it had been years since I had done the after holiday stuff. We met up with the boys and hit REI, Pottery Barn and Costco for some prime filets for dinner. I found a super cute messenger bag at REI that can replace the no longer needed diaper bag. It's lime green and brown and just perfect!

The Balog's headed back to Houston on Tuesday morning. Robb went into work for a bit and I took the girls down to the mall playground to burn off some energy since it has been raining so much. They had fun and we hit the Disney Twice Yearly Sale, of course!

Today we met with with friends from church and went bowling and out for pizza. The girls had a blast - it was both their first times to bowl. EK turned out really good at it and little miss independent Hannah insisted on "rolling" the ball "all by myself" after only a few helpful rolls from mom and dad. Let's just say that the attendant had to come rescue the ball mid lane a few times - which he was not so thrilled about to say the least!!

Tomorrow I am heading in to see the doc for this cough that has settled with me since before Thanksgiving. I am hopeful there is something she can do to help as all the drugs, inhalers and whatnot's have not thus far!! We may end up at Chuck-e-Cheese or something with the girls later. Again...only so much you can do in the rainy season here! School starts back up Monday....work starts back up Tuesday so get in what you can, right?!?

Pics from Christmas. Hope yours was a Merry one too and Happy New Years!!

I Caught Santa!!

2010-12-25T14:57:00.000-08:00

I woke in the middle of the night thinking one of the girls was calling. I walked down the hall and heard a strange noise in the family room. I peaked in and then quickly grabbed my camera, snapped a picture, and then ran back to bed!

Guess who I caught!?!?

Or....at least that was my story this morning and I'm sticking to it!!
Merry Christmas!

Ho Ho Ho!

2010-12-23T20:45:00.000-08:00

This is going to be a quick post as I am waiting for Robb to return from the airport with his folks. They are coming in town tonight to spend the Christmas holiday with us! The girls are very excited to say the least. Getting them to bed tonight was next to impossible!!

To catch you up on our holiday activities....last Friday was EmmaKate's last day of school for this semester. She/we had a fun week at school. They had a craft day in which I planned 4 Christmas crafts for the children to do during the last hour of the day. They had a blast! We did a reindeer made out of a toilet paper roll, a snowman stocking, a Christmas card with their little hand print, and a reindeer ornament to hang on their tree. Super fun!! The next day was Gingerbread house day. All the children got to decorate their own gingerbread house and take it home. Needless to say, it was a fun week for the kids...and for me as I got to help out and participate thru it all!

Then just this past Tuesday, I introduced my kids to the concept of "ding, dong, ditch"! Yes I know...setting the stage for teenage years but this was super fun and in good spirit. We adopted a family in need from our church along with a ton of other friends and families and we all went in together to give them a "Secret Santa" for the 12 days before Christmas. The idea was that each family would take a night, come up with a secret santa type gift and leave it on their doorstep, ring the bell and run. On Christmas Eve, the family will receive a letter telling them who all was their secret santa and wish them a Merry Christmas. Cute idea, right?! The girls and I came up with the idea of a popcorn and movie night. We got a cute basket, filled it with cocoa from Starbucks, 3 Christmas mugs, the movie White Christmas, and popcorn packets. We wrote a cute card, tied it with a bow and we were set to go. The girls got SO into it. The were giddy the whole drive to the family's house, tip toed with me up to the door and then bolted when I rang the bell. EmmaKate even made sure she had on her "fast" running shoes before we left. It was a really sweet and fun thing to do with the girls - I'd highly recommend it!

We then set out baking all sorts of goodies this week! We made cookies, fudge, sugar and spiced pecans, millionaires, ice cream cone santas...the works. They had a blast and I never want to see a bag of sugar again! Someone please send me a bag of potato chips!

Now we are ready for Grandma and Grandpa Butch to arrive tonight and enjoy a fun holiday weekend with them. The next post will have plenty of pictures I assure you! I hope all of you have a very Merry Christmas and I'll share ours with you next week.

Happy Holidays!!

True Sisterhood!!

2010-12-17T16:28:00.000-08:00

Nothing says true sisterly love as having someone who will sit with you and read while you answer mother nature's call!

This Week.....

2010-12-10T13:38:00.000-08:00

This week has been an interesting and busy one! It started off busy with work and regular ole mommy type stuff then on Tuesday I picked EmmaKate up at school only to realize she had a 102 fever and a nasty ear infection. One doctor visit and a script of amoxicillian later and we were good to go again.

Wednesday came and we were all excited as EmmaKate was going to stay for all day kindergarten today for the first time. To sum it up...Valley has a 1/2 day kinder program and a full day one. All curriculum is held in the first half and the latter half simply includes lunch and social type activites; ie: playground, computer time, arts/crafts, movie afternoons, etc. We had always wanted EK to go 1/2 day knowing she would soon enough begin the full day school program for the next 18 plus years. Well....come to my surprise that she has been completely missing out on the "social" part and has been feeling quite left out with friends at school. She has been begging us for months to let her stay for lunch and the afternoon. At long last, I talked with the school and they let her do a 3 day trial (I chose this week) to see if she in fact liked it and then we could enroll her second semester. So, Wednesday came and it was her big first day of all day kinder - meaning 8:30 - 3pm. I made her lunch, dropped her off and went on my merry way. Now, again to catch you up...we had all been sick over Thanksgiving, including me, and my cronic cough appeared only this time it did not go away no matter how many in halers, mucinex or steroids I took. I literally ended up coughing my way into the doctor's office fearing I broke a rib (that's how bad it hurt!). Picked EK up from her first long day, dragged both kids up to Menlo Park, dropped them at Robb's office and bolted for the doc. Come to find out I have inflamation of the Pluertic lining - apparently there is some space between your ribs and lungs and I just tore it to shreds. Nice! Some anti-inflamatory's, suped up cough meds, and 800 mg of Advil later and I am finally on the mends. Picked the girls up, raced home, shoved food in them and sent them off to AWANAS that night. Whew!!

Thursday, another great long day for EK! It was the first time she got in the car after school and raved about the games and all the fun they had...on and on and on! It made me so very happy for her!! We came home, did some quiet time, threw her in the shower and all got dressed for her Christmas Performance that night down at the California Theatre in San Jose. It was grades K-3 so about 400 kids all performed Christmas songs, the hand bell choir played and the story of Jesus was told. It was so sweet! We sat in the balcony but with my big lens, I got some pretty decent shots. Pictures below.

Friday came and I dropped EK off again...I am now really getting used to this 8:30 - 3pm thing! The extra 3 hours are amazing!! So, I let Hannah sleep a little extra, clean up the house a bit more, throw another load of laundry in when the phone rings. It is the school. Mom of the Year right here!! School lets out at 2pm on Friday's ma'am the nice lady says to me. EK has been sitting outside with her teacher now for 30 minutes waiting for me. All the other kids have gone and she has now been moved to the office and it takes me 30 min to get there! NICE!!! I could not have felt worse! Apolgies accepted...no real trauma incurred....changed the topic with a fun playdate with one of her best friends immediately after school....one lesson learned for this mamma!

Saturday now, Robb took EK to ballet and did some work in the coffee shop while Hannah and I stayed at home getting ready for my holiday party for my discipleship group that night. I was having all the gals over for a holiday wine & cheese party and Robb was taking the girls to see Tangled. I had such fun getting everything together and tried out some new receipes from Cooking Light: mini crab cups, goat cheese stuffed dates wrapped in procuitto, my fallback fig and goat cheese bruschetta and a nutty blue cheese dip, of course complete with a full cheese and fruit spread. It was such fun and everyone had a great time! I believe it might become a new tradition! Oh, and the girls LOVED Tangled!!

Sunday, today, we went to church and I stayed for the leaders meeting while Robb brought the girls home. He then went and did some work while the girls and I indulged in Toy Story 2 (thanks Ama & Papa!!). We then went over to friends who host an annual Gingerbread house decorating party. Super fun and the girls had a blast as always!! Check out their houses.

Well, that was our week....glad it's over! Hopefully this week will be a bit more subdued and a few less trips to the doc!!

Pics of EmmaKate's Christmas Performace. Be sure to note her hands shading her eyes from the spotlights in an attempt to find us in the audience. This lasted for at least the first 20 minutes of the show!!

Grades K - 3 performed. There were over 400 children on stage. EK is in the second row, center, shading her eyes from the lights.

Yup - there she is trying to locate us in the mass of parents.
Finally found us while continuing to sing along.

Must show her friend Jenna!

Big smile - so cute!

A very well done program!!

Sunday we decorated Gingerbread houses with friends. The girls had a ball!!!

More fun things and stories coming for this next week!!

Our Christmas Tree

2010-12-09T13:44:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday following ballet and a birthday party for one of EmmaKate's little classmates, we headed up to Los Gatos to the Christmas tree farm to hunt, find, and cut down our Christmas tree for this year. The girls always have such fun doing this...as do we!

We ended up finding the ultimate, perfect tree this year! I am so pleased with it!! We put it up in the den near the fireplace like we did last year and my artificial tree is up in the family room in the front window. And, yes...we have two trees! The artifical tree holds ornaments SO much better and I can get SO many more on it than the real tree but we love the smell and ambiance of the real tree so, I get both!

Here are pictures from our hunt....and, sadly they are taken with my phone as I totally forgot my big camera at home! Unbelievable!! Still, these are kinda cute...

Christmas 2010

2010-12-06T17:52:00.001-08:00

Seasonal Chic Noir Christmas Card

Make a statement with Shutterfly Christmas photo cards.

View the entire collection of cards.

Merry Christmas!! I tried something this year...I normally wouldn't scan in our Christmas card and have it as a post however as I ordered our Christmas cards, the company gave me this option to add the card to a blog for a $25 gift card! So, I did!!! Sorry if you are getting a sneak peak at what you are getting in the mail in the next week or two but hey, it's was $25 bucks!! Tis the season!!!

Thanksgiving 2010

2010-12-01T16:27:00.001-08:00

We were really looking forward to Thanksgiving this year. EmmaKate had her first "Thanksgiving Feast and Performance" at school and my parents (Ama & Papa) were coming in to enjoy the holiday with us!

Everything was set and ready! The house was decorated and ready for celebration, the food was bought and ready to go, the do ahead dishes were done and in the fridge....all I had to do was enjoy the Feast at school, pick my folks up at the airport, and start eating!!!

EmmaKate's Feast was super cute. The children had made and decorated costumes and the parents were asked to bring in a dish for a potluck meal with the kids. I arrived early to help set up and then the festivities began. The children marched in to the "Little Indians" song, performed a few different songs for us, did a quick little skit and then sat down at this incredibly long table. The parents and children then one by one went thru the buffet and enjoyed a very cute holiday lunch, complete with pumpkin pie - of which EmmaKate ate (unbelievable)!!

We then picked Ama & Papa up at the airport and swung by to pick up our crab legs for our Thanksgiving Eve tradition. We met Robb and our sweet neighbors, the Hagens, at home and enjoyed a wonderful feast of crab, sourdough bread, a feta walnut salad and a delightful dessert, thanks to Eileen, together.

Thanksgiving day was just perfect! We all got up and enjoyed a lazy brunch of Maryland Crab melts, fresh fruit and bacon followed by the Cowboy game and the sound of that wonderful turkey hitting the deep fryer! This year I made a couple of changes to the menu which turned out quite yummy! We continued with our traditional fried turkey, homemade green bean casserole and cinnamon scented cranberry sauce and added in goat cheese mashed potatoes and sausage and sourdough bread stuffing - both of which turned out delicious! We ended with pecan pie, cheesecake and the Late Harvest wine from Hanna. A great day!!

Friday, we had wanted to cut down our tree however it was super cold with frost on the ground and rainy so we bagged that idea and went wine tasting in Livermore Valley instead. Albeit a bit chilly, we had a great time and a very nice picnic.

Thomas Coyne Winery

Saturday we had plans to go to the Stanford tailgate and game as usual...however, the rain and cold were really getting in the way and then our friends who we always go with came down with a sick bug so we bagged that idea and decorated the house up for Christmas!! The girls got down their trees, I got my big one up and the entire house (except for our real tree that we'll cut down this weekend) got decorated including my village. A huge task totally accomplished thanks to my folks who helped me and helped entertain the girls so I could decorate!

Sunday, we went to church. Mom got to work in Hannah's class with me which was tons of fun and Hannah loved having her Ama to "show off"! After church we went to lunch at Roux, a Lousiana Kitchen, for some po'boys in Santana Row then headed up to Los Gatos for some shopping and ice cream.

Monday, we all took EK to school so she could show off her school the her grandparents. We came home and left Papa and Hannah and Ama and I went back and volunteered during Center Time in EK's classroom. EmmaKate was so excited to introduce her Ama to all her friends and classmates and to have her there helping during Centers. It was really special for both of them! We came home and gathered the troops and hit the mall and of course....SANTA! (As soon as I get my scanner working - I'll upload the Santa pic! Really cute!!)

Tuesday, EK went to school and we all hung out at the house while Ama and Papa got all packed up to catch their flight that afternoon. It was a really fun week and the girls' had a blast!! Lots of tears coming home from the airport were shed....

Onto the rest of the week now...we are just getting back in the routine, Robb's big presentation is done and went super super well so he is back with the family finally after a month of excruciating long hours of working. We are heading out to get our tree this weekend, along with ballet and a birthday party for one of EK's classmates, and a Christmas party with Robb's bible study.

Hope everyone out there is having a great start to their December!!!

Merry Christmas to all....

Red Shoes and Two!

2010-11-18T20:37:00.000-08:00

This post is dedicated to our dear sweet Hannah Grace! God love her and we most certainly do!! She is currently blessing us with being well, 2!! We apparently had it "easy" with EmmaKate as her 2's were a dream. It wasn't until she was 3 did we see her shall we say, expressive personality, shine through. Hannah however, as with everything she has ever done, is blessing us early! She is really such a delight and she is absolutely hysterical!! She is definitely the comic in the family and shows us daily her ability to make everyone laugh. Her comic side also comes with a sneaky little instigating, innocently sly, and sometimes slightly defiant side which is quite hard to discipline as I have to turn away half the time to keep from laughing. Last week, we were all sitting at the dinner table and I said to Hannah that if she didn't touch her food that she would not get dessert. I went back to eating and I hear this little voice that says, "touch". I look up and she has her little head cocked to the side with a sly smile and with her big eyes looking at me and her one little finger ever so lightly "touching" her food. As soon as our eyes met, she says, "touch, touch, touch, touch" as she dips her finger in her food over and over again. All the while, smiling as if to say, "I'm doing what you told me to do Mom". Sassy little thing!!

She is all about, "I will do it myself!!" right now. And that goes for just about everything...that suits her at the time that is. Then there are times where she still wants me to do whatever it is for her. The trick is knowing which time it is at that moment. I get it right about half the time! And let me tell you, there are consequences for when I get it wrong (in toddler world that is!). Just the other day, I went to take off her Red Shoes (we'll get to those in a second..) and apparently she did NOT want me to take them off, she wanted to do it. So after the small fit she graciously shared with me, I put them back on for her to remove. She takes one off and hucks it down the hallway, crosses her arms, and puckers her lips and stares at me. She then removes her second shoe and does the same. Needless to say, mom ending up winning that battle but I'll give it to her for her attempt at independence!!

So about the Red Shoes....Hannah was given these cute little shiny red Pedi Ped shoes from EmmaKate's former preschool teacher. Ever since they came into our house, she has been obsessed by them. So much so recently that they are all she will wear...morning, noon, and night. Seriously!!! She wakes up...puts them on. Wears them with any outfit that day and will wear them until she climbs into bed that night and I insist they come off. Repeat the next day!

THE Red Shoes... and there is NO talking her out of them!!

Morning!

Noon!!

And, Night!!!

Did I mention the "sass"!??!

Hannah is a "big girl" now and let's us know it anytime she feels we need to be reminded of it. She has been fully potty trained for a while now and sleeps in her big girl bed in her big girl room with all her big girl things. Anytime we mistakenly answer her with a "Yes, baby..what can I do for you" let's say, we get back, "I'm not a baby, I'm a BIG GIRL!", again with hands on hips! Where does she get that?!!? (wink wink)

I wish I could type all her sweet little nuances,quirks. funny isms and sayings but that would take up more space than blogger would allow me! You'll just have to come spend some time with her to get the full effect of our dear sweet Hannah Grace.

Halloween!!

2010-11-02T20:32:00.000-07:00

Halloween this year was super extra fun!! We decided to head south and spend it with my brother, sister in law, and their kiddos. We left Friday morning, stopping at our favorite southern winery Tobin James for lunch, and then got in to Thousand Oaks around 4pm - just after Aidan (my 2 yr old nephew) woke up from his nap. Perfect timing!!

The kids were beyond excitement to see each other and took off like a shot to play! The adults quickly headed for the wine cooler and settled in the backyard catching up and watching the little ones play. We had a great dinner together, put all the kids down, and the adults got some time to hang, laugh, and enjoy the start to a fabulous weekend!

Saturday morning, we all got up...the dads went and got everyone donuts, we played and finally got everyone dressed and headed out to a fun Halloween festival held at a local shopping/eating area called The Lakes. It was such fun! There were crafts, bounce houses, music, photo ops, goodie bags and play. The kids loved it and had a blast!! While we were doing that, Robb and Robert had gone and bought a heat lamp for the patio outside. They spent the late morning putting it together so we could sit outside that night and sip on some vino!! We came home from The Lakes for a quick rest time and then headed to church for their Fall Festival. That was really fun! They had everything from cake walks to game after game to pizza for the children. The kids got candy and prizes at each game and therefore, had a ball!!

Sunday morning, we had a lazy morning...spending it mostly in jammies dancing in the living room to Katherine playing Disney tunes on the piano! Katherine and I then snuck off to Target to get a peak at any Halloween sales and then stopped by FIVE GUYS to pick up hamburgers for everyone. After lunch and quiet/nap time, we all got dressed and ready for Halloween and Trick or Treating. We went to a neighbor's house for dinner and games prior to trick or treating and then the neighborhood opened up and it was free for all!!! Oh, the kids had such fun!! We went in a pretty large group from dinner and canvased the neighborhood. Hannah peetered out by the time we got around to Robert and Katherine's house so she and I volunteered to stay and hand out candy while Katherine caught up to the dad's, girls and Aidan. Hannah actually had a great time handing out candy - it was really cute!

After all was said and done, we washed everyone down, settled everyone down and they all fell fast asleep! We got up and headed home on Monday. It was such a fun filled weekend....we had such a great time hanging with Robert and Katherine and the kids as always...Halloween could not have been more fun than spending it with them!! Thanks for a great weekend ya'll!!!!

Here are some pics from our weekend...if you get really brave and want to experience the WHOLE weekend, you can click on OUR HALLOWEEN ALBUM and see it all!!

The girls seeing each other again after 2 months!! Such cuties!!!

Kutya found one of her favorite laps!!

The girls in their jammies getting ready for their "sleepover"!
All the girls!
Hannah and her Halloween shirt.
All the girls at The Lakes fall festival.
The girls decorating pumpkins at The Lakes.
Everyone dressed and ready for the Fall Festival at church.
Aidan getting his faced painted at the Festival.
Hannah getting "butterflied".
Our masked Belle!
Belle and Snow White grace us with their presence for Halloween.
All four characters. I can't believe we got a picture!!!
The Scooby Doo Crew: Velma, Daphne, Fred and Scooby!
The Princesses and their boring escorts!
My FAVORITE picture...Snow White eating the classic poisen apple.
Trick or Treat!!
After a full night....all are exhausted and winding down before bed.

Such a GREAT weekend!!!!

Pumpkin Patch

2010-10-26T20:06:00.000-07:00

It is finally FALL in Northern Cal...and I couldn't be happier!! Cool, brisk yet sunny weather has come upon us...which means jeans, boots and great jackets! You gotta love fall clothes!!!

OK...so fall means other things to the girls such as Halloween, pumkins and pumpkin patches and we hit ours yesterday! We usually head north to Half Moon Bay to Pastorini Farms but this year the girls and I headed south to Morgan Hill and Uesgi Farms with about 5 other moms from our church and their kiddos which totalled about 13 or so kids all together, all ranging from Hannah's age to EK's age - super fun!! The kids had a blast running thru the pumpkins chasing each other and going on all the rides....the mom's had fun just gabbing and gossiping as we walked along together making sure all munchkins were accounted for every so often.

Here are pics from our fun day!

Thomas Coyne Winery!

2010-10-24T13:44:00.001-07:00

So, following our sleep over with Ava and picking the girls up from ballet, we headed over to the east bay in the Livermore area to pick up a Christmas gift. While there we decided to pop into some winery's and have a picnic. It was supposed to rain all weekend but seeing as the rains had not come yet...we took advantage of the cool, crisp fall air!

We found a new fun winery called Thomas Coyne. His winery is set in rustic old barns with an amazing view! They were punching down the wine on Saturday so we got to watch them and smell the lush grapes being crushed. Yummmm!!! The girls had fun running all around collecting nuts for the squirrels and finding their first walnut to crack and eat. They had some really great wines and really good prices!

Punching down the grapes.

That old barn in the background is the tasting room. Very cool!

Sweet girl!

Cheesy Hannah!

Goofy girls!

The view from our picnic.

From there, we went over to Murrieta's Well. This was a beautiful winery owned and opperated by Wente Vineyards - of which we love! It was a gorgeous tasting room with quite a large number of delicious wines. The girls made friends with some of the tasters as well as the staff. Our pourer taught EmmaKate a magic trick with a cork - so if you ever come over, you might just have to indulge her!!

We ended up at BoaVentura Vineyard which is known for their Cab's and only open the first weekend of each month - which is always army weekend for Robb so this was a treat to find them open! Robb being such a Cab lover just had to stop in!! The vineyard was PERFECT for kids!! They had horses, chickens and dogs all over the property...children's toys spread about, a hammock for swimging and bocce ball. It was a dream for the girls, and for us!! We enjoyed tasting while they chased the chickens thru the vines, played fetch with the dogs and begged to see the horses. We weren't huge fans of a lot of their cab's, we did find a few that we really liked...one being $75 a bottle - yikes!!

As the day ended, we loaded up to head home....Hannah sound asleep before we hit the highway, EK singing along to Belle while watching Beauty and Beast. Truly a perfect day!!

The picnic area within the vineyard.
The girls playing with one of the dogs. The other was a black lab...they loved that!
The tasting room and bocce ball court.
The girls playing bocce ball.
Hannah chasing the chickens.
Awesome!!

Sleep Over!!

2010-10-24T12:54:00.000-07:00

The girls had their first "official" sleep over on Friday night. Their friend Ava from church has been dying to have a sleep over with us but for a while there she was afraid of our dogs. We told her that if she could get past her fears that she could come and stay. And let me tell you...that girl was determind and sure enough she has been a new dog lover for the past few months! Way to go girl!! So it came time to follow our end of that deal and she packed her bags and her mom and brothers and sister came over Friday afternoon for a playdate and then they left and we were one girl heavy!

It was really fun and the girls had a blast!! They got to have "dinner and a movie", popsicles for dessert, and a slumber party in their bedroom. We let them lay and chat and giggle for a good half hour before we simmered them down and encouraged sleep. We turned the monitor on and listened and Robb and I got some good laughs at the conversations!! It's hilarious to hear what they talk about! Once they began falling asleep, it was really funny to watch Hannah...she kept sitting up in bed and looking down at Ava in the trundle bed I think just checking to see if she was still there. She would whisper to me..."Mommy, Ava is sleeping down there!" "Yes, Hannah she is. Now go to sleep!" All slept thru the night and got up excited that Ava was actually still there. They got up, had breakfast, and got ready for ballet. Robb took the big girls and Hannah stayed with me.

I have to tell you though...I did like the biggest faux paux for a mom regarding someone else's kid! So, earlier that morning...I told the girls to go get ready for ballet. They ran off giggling and Ava came back and asked me to help her put her tights on. I of course said sure and put them on her. Then she ran back to put her leotard on. Both girls came out of the bedroom fully dressed and looked like they were ready to go. So, we go to pick up the girls after ballet and we stay to visit with Jamie (Ava's mom) and she notices that Ava has her leotard on backward. We laugh...and then she notices that Ava's leotard is not only backwards but her legs weren't even in the holes. So basically she pulled it over her head and called it done and all that was on the bottom were tights. It was hilarious but I felt awful that I brought her daughter to ballet half naked and backwards!! Oh well...chalk one up for me!

Here are a few pics...

Dinner and a Movie!

Dessert in Jammies

Having girl time before bed

All are asleep!!

A fun first sleep over!! I'm sure many more to come!!!

Our Day at Hanna Winery!

2010-10-17T16:02:00.000-07:00

Robb and I spent a super fun day yesterday up in the Alexander Valley at Hanna Winery. We left at 9 in the morning and didn't return home until almost 8 o'clock that night! Wow - what a day!! The girls spent a super fun day with Katie, their nanny, and had a blast from what we hear as well!! There was just loads of fun going on with the Balog's yesterday!

So, we are members of the Hanna Wine Club and they were having an event yesterday which is what spawned our outing. The owner, Chris Hanna, was releasing her very first cookbook and so they invited members up to enjoy samplings from her book paired with all the delicious Hanna wines. Sounded fun, right?? Now, here is the BEST part!!! The food was being prepared by Iron Chef Contestant, Duskie Estes!!!! Yep - if you are foodie people like we are and love to watch the Iron Chef and in particular, the Next Iron Chef, you will know who she is! We were so excited to go up and meet her and taste her food. She is one of our favorite contestants! Chef Estes and her husband own ZAZU in Santa Rosa and BOVOLO in Healdsburg in addition to being a TV celebrity right now. We were pretty stoked to meet her!

We arrived and we were one of the first folks there which made it quite easy for me to become her personal stalker! She was so nice and indulged me with pictures, autographs and tidbits of the show and her fame. I loved it!! So, the food was fantastic of course, the wine was delightful, the ambiance, music, people, and scenery was all just wonderful. We had such a good time and really dreaded the long drive home. Man, those 2 hours seemed to never end but we made it home...the girls asleep in bed, Katie exhausted, and us significantly broker as we had fun picking out our shipment in wine and then some....well, really ALOT!! You're welcome to come join us anytime!

Here are some pic's of our day...

Me with Chef Estes

Hanna Winery

View of the picnic area where the band played and Chef Estes was cooking.

Chef making her shrimp skewers and lamb pitas.

A tour of the vineyards by the winemaker.

Grapes ready for picking.

Enjoying the band and food.

Chef at the grill indulging us all with talk of the Next Iron Chef!

Robb and me with Chris Hanna and her new cookbook.

Principal's Award!

2010-10-15T10:13:00.000-07:00

I picked EmmaKate up from school yesterday and she comes running down the sidewalk with this piece of paper in her hand and a huge smile on her face! She shows me the paper and it is titled, "Principal's Award" and says that she has been recognized as "bringing joy to the classroom everyday". How neat is that?!? It was signed by her teacher and the Principal! She was SO excited and SO high on life - it was cute to see. She told me that the Principal came in and discussed the award and what it was and then called her up by name to the front and presented the award to her. It brought tears to my eyes to listen to her and imagine being there to see the look on her face and the feeling in her heart. She has been beaming ever since!

Here are a couple of photos of the "award winning EmmaKate"! :)

Congrats my little one!! You bring joy to us everyday!!!

AWANA Awards!!

2010-10-14T13:11:00.000-07:00

Emmakate received her first AWANA awards last night! She was so very excited and we are super proud of her!! She has been working so hard each week memorizing her verses and she had memorized 4 verses for last night in order to complete her first section and receive her HangGlider wings and her Sparks patch. She not only got those 2 awards but she also received her first blue jewel! She was doubled over in excitement when she got home, it was so cute! Here are a couple of pictures of her in her vest with her new awards. Congrats little one!!!

A Day with the Horses!

2010-10-09T20:11:00.000-07:00

We spent a super fun day with the Kelly clan up in Woodside at an event called "A Day with the Horses". Both of our husbands were on the Men's Retreat with church this weekend so my friend Jamie and I decided to hang out and play. She found this fun event happening on Saturday so we decided to load up all the kids and head up right after ballet.

The event could not have been more fun!! We were a little worried as the event was an annual event celebrating horses and here's the kicker...totally free!!! Yup...completely and totally free! Now hear what was all included; puppet shows, photo on a horse, arts and crafts like painting your own real horseshoe and decorating your own cookies, petting farm of all types of horses, old fashioned horse drawn carriage ride, pony rides, live music, food and wine from all the local vendors, and the list keeps going!! All Free!!! It was so much fun and the kids had a ball. We stayed and played until the little ones were about falling asleep in their stroller.

Here are a few pics and the rest are in the album. Enjoy! It will definitely be an annual thing for us now!!

First Field Trip!

2010-10-08T20:40:00.000-07:00

Today EmmaKate went on her very first school field trip!! The Kindergarten classes have about 5-6 field trips during the school year and today was the FIRST! They were heading to Prusch Farms, a local farm that has loads of animals, a playground, and picnic area. The children were going to have a tour from the farmer, be able to see, pet, and feed the animals, and play on the playground while having a snack. Sounded like such fun and EmmaKate was more than excited! AND, the best part....the children were going to get to ride on a big yellow school bus to get there!! Oh, let me tell you....THIS was the most exciting part for EK! She has never been on a bus before, let alone a school bus, and she could hardly sleep the night before!

She had a great time and loved every minute of it. Her first question to me when I picked her up was, "When is our next field trip? Tomorrow???"

Here are a few pictures of her send off...

EmmaKate in front of her school bus.

EmmaKate and her friend Rachel.

EmmaKate and her BFF Madison.

The kids are ready to go!

Walking to the bus.

About to board.

Off to the farm! Have fun on the farm!!!

Sports Day at School

2010-10-01T20:23:00.000-07:00

Today was "Sports Day" at EmmaKate's school. All the kids got a chance to wear anything they wanted that was "sporty". Ideally, we would have worn a Tennessee Titan jersey or t-shirt in honor of the love Robb shares with the team however, we did not have one in her size and we couldn't get one shipped in time. So, we did the next best thing...improvise! A brilliant idea hit me - our sweet Aunt Katherine gave EmmaKate a darling petty skirt on their last visit so we turned it into a cheerleader/ballet/dancer outfit and called it a "sport". It was perfect and it couldn't be more perfect when we showed up at school and saw that so many of the little girls had the same idea!! Oh, and it was "sharing" day so she dressed up her Build-a-Bear Bunny in her Dallas Cowboys cheerleader outfit so they could be cheerleaders together! Super cute!!

It was really cute to see all the kiddos all dressed up! She loved wearing her petty skirt to school too!

So, on a side note...I just want to say congrats to Hannah as she is fully potty trained!! Yeah big girl! She did great and it didn't take but a few days. She was so ready...it was really me just holding off. Well, no more diapers....ever - WOW!!

Robb heads off to army this weekend so the girls and I will be finding things to do! We have ballet in the morning then we have to go get a new microwave - how exciting is that?!? - then, I'm not sure.....I was thinking maybe we will ride the train up to Palo Alto and have lunch at Pizza My Heart, the girls love that!! Or, maybe we'll do some Christmas shopping, the girls are gonna hate that!! Sunday, I start teaching the 3 year olds so that should be fun and of course, the Titans play. We need to head out and finish out our Halloween costumes too and get the house decorated. So, I guess we do have a busy weekend ahead!

Oh, I decided I would start including in the blog fun dishes we have tried throughout the week. So, if something sounds good and you want the recipe, let me know. Tonight I made a chicken breast stuffed with chopped cooked bacon, herbed crumbled feta cheese and diced tomatoes served with some yummy roasted new potatoes with herbs and garlic. Earlier this week, I made a really great fish topped with a rocket salsa verde - awesome and super easy! Happy Friday!!

Our Week...

2010-09-26T20:40:00.000-07:00

Our week started off pretty good. EmmaKate is enjoying school and looks forward to it every morning. Hannah stays home and is quite content with it, at least for now. She gets good one on one time so there's not much to complain about, right?!? We had one of EmmaKate's best friends over on Wednesday afternoon to play. It is a 13 year old girl named Milan. You may remember me talking about her from Sports Camp this past summer. She was the gal who took EK under her wing and really MADE Sports Camp for her. Well, the two of them have become inseparable at church and even Hannah has fallen in love with her. I know it sounds kinda strange....a 13 year old wanting to hang out and play with a 5 and 2 year old but this young gal loves kids and truly loves our kids!! She thoroughly enjoys her time with them and it is wonderful that I get to help her "learn" to babysit. Hopefully soon, she'll be ready for us to leave her in charge and go out for a bit!!

Following our afternoon with Milan, was AWANAS. EmmaKate has AWANAS every Wednesday night from 6-8pm and she is loving it!! The first week, she had one verse to memorize: John 3:16. Now she is up to 3 verses she has to memorize by Wednesday and already has 2 of the 3 down! This coming Wednesday is "bring a friend night" so she is bringing her BFF Ava from church. We are hoping Ava starts attending AWANAS with us - it's just a bit of a drive for her folks but maybe we can help with that somehow. I know EK would love it!!

All the while this week, Hannah was in full gear for potty training! She has been ready for quite a while now it was just really me that kept putting it off. She has done exceptionally well though and has had all of about 2 accidents. I'm even taking her out now with little worry. She is so excited and tells anyone and everyone - seriously! - that she sleeps in a big girl bed and wears big girl panties! It's really cute and surprisingly really uncomfortable to some strangers!!

I continued to work on their big girl room this week. I got the stenciling done and all the art hung along with the canopy's. Robb is going to hang the chandelier soon so as soon as I get the pink toole bed skirts, the room should be complete. YEAH!! The playroom is my next venture. I am thinking of painting it a chocolate brown color with pink polka dots in all sizes. I'll need new curtains and a new rug...oh, and their names spelled out in white letters....but that should make it complete as well. My goal is to have both rooms done by Thanksgiving!

Our weekend started out fun. The girls and I took Robb out for a steak dinner on Friday night. He had been working super hard this week and had clients in so he had been quite stressed. It was a nice relaxing end to a busy week for all of us! Saturday was ballet as usual for the girls and Robb went into work for a bit. We did our typical Costco run and made a scrumptous dinner that night. We went to church this morning and the Titans won so life was good in our house today! The girls played outside in the water this afternoon while Robb tended to his garden. We tried a new thing for dinner tonight....I made my hot artichoke dip, added some spinach, and spread it on foccacia bread topped with chicken and an Italian cheese. Baked it for about 15 min or so....it turned out really good!

So, the girls are in bed and I am on the mini while Robb is catching highlights from all the games. We start a new week tomorrow. Let's see...not much on tap; school, a couple of playdates, AWANAS, Robb has army this weekend so we'll see what the girls and I get into. :)

All for now....goodnight!