Easter 2009

Finally posting some pictures from Easter! Since we attend a large church, Easter was a huge production. We had to park remotely and be transported by shuttle to the service, which was fun for the boys. We went to the early service, so had plenty of time afterwards to come home and barbeque (Easter a la California!).

Tobiah and Asher were excited to receive their Easter "buckets"

Wonderful to have my parents here for Easter!

Debbie and her best friend, Jen! Thanks for making the drive from San Diego! We love you!

Our friends Cammie and Robert, who we almost always go out to lunch with after church also joined us. Don't ask me why I didn't get a picture of them! They are awesome friends!

Egg hunt

Where in the world were Toby and Asher on Papa's birthday?

AT THE ARBORETUM!

They had a great time tearing around the beautiful grounds and enjoying the wildlife: ducks, geese, turtles, fish, a heron (which we got to watch catch a fish!), lizards, squirrels,

AND peacocks...

(see video)

Right before I took the video this peacock has his tail feathers fully fanned out, but by the time I filmed him they were down...so some of the effect was lost...but we believe he was wishing you a Happy Birthday nonetheless Papa!

Here is what the peacock looked like in full splendor. (My dad took the picture.)

Lots of love from your California family!

Palm Springs on Palm Sunday!

We think we might have started a new tradition of visiting Aunt Dianne and Uncle Duane for a day while they vacation in Palm Springs every year. The drive (1 hour and 45 minutes) was definitely worth the fun filled day (and the kids slept all the way home). Last time we saw Aunt Dianne and Uncle Duane it was in inches of snow in Washington, so it was fun to see them again in sunny, sunny Palm Springs. Tim and I were excited to see that the boys' water skills had not regressed - Toby was doing a lot of swimming and Asher was very comfortable playing in the pool.

California Boy

Getting ready to jump off of Daddy's shoulders!

Toby enjoyed swimming and water fighting with Uncle Duane.

Thanks for the great time Aunt Dianne and Uncle Duane!

Little League Slide Show

We were sent this link to a slide show of pictures taken on Opening Day for Little League. It will give you an idea of what a fun day it was! A slice of Americana. There is one picture of Toby with his team (The Phillies) in the back of the truck (#9) and one of him about to come down the slide of a bounce house (#50). Enjoy!

http://www.neilvancephoto.com/slideshows/SMLLopeningday2009_show/

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

In this picture Toby is holding a "leprechaun trap" that he made at preschool. Following is a cute story of his attempt to catch a leprechaun on St. Patrick's Day:

Since St. Patrick's Day was on Tuesday, a day Toby doesn't go to preschool, his teacher sent his trap home with us on Monday with a small baggy of Lucky Charms to use as bait. As soon as we returned home Monday, Toby set up his trap and placed the bait in it. Then he went off to play. I was unloading groceries and getting the boys some lunch. What was Asher doing? Curious about Toby's craft, he was checking out the trap, and eating the irresistible little marshmallow charms! When I saw what Asher was doing, I didn't want to draw Toby's attention, so I quickly whisked him away. I made a mental note to replace the cereal from our own box of Lucky Charms before Toby noticed and had a fit that Asher had eaten the precious bait.

Well...I forgot to replace the cereal.

That afternoon we were doing an activity at the table when Toby decided to check on his trap. I cringed, realizing what I had forgotten to do. Toby's eyes got big, and his face got extremely excited (instead of upset) when he burst out, "Mom, the leprechaun already came to my trap and it ate all the marshmallows!! " I totally went with the flow, showing complete surprise and wonder that a leprechaun would be sneaky enough to come eat the marshmallow charms and leave the rest of the cereal behind. Toby's reaction couldn't of been better and he couldn't wait to tell his dad all about it!!

We placed more Lucky Charms in the trap.

Toby was full of nervous excitement on St. Patrick's Day when he checked the trap. Unfortunately he didn't catch a leprechaun, but all the cereal was GONE and in it's place were GOLD chocolate coins (also sent by the preschool teacher for me to sneak in to the trap)!! That morning I let the boys have dessert at breakfast. :)

Happy Birthday Tim!

We had a fun family dinner celebration for Tim's birthday. He finally caught up to me, since I am 5 months older! Toby once referred to that as mom being "bigger" - we had to explain that older doesn't mean bigger when you are a grown up. :)

We are blessed to have Tim in our lives! He makes us all so happy!

What made Tim's birthday weekend extra fun was that David happened to have a stop in San Diego and some time off to come up and see us. (Wish we could of seen Kristi too...) The boys loved getting to play with their Uncle Davy!

Handmade by...

Thought I would share the cards that the boys made for Tim on his birthday. The first three are Toby's and the last is Asher's. Tim was very pleased and the boys were so proud.

Go Phillies!

Tim had to talk me in to signing Toby up for t-ball (since Toby is my little soccer star). I'm really glad he did because Toby is having a GREAT time! He gets very excited before each game (he's had three so far) and enjoys every minute. A good little batter, he's even hit the ball a few times without the tee, and has had the opportunity to play different positions. He likes playing the pitcher position the best (the kids don't pitch, obviously, but most of the balls come straight to the pitcher so it is an exciting place to be) and thought being catcher was "so boring". Sorry Andrew.

Little League is a big deal in our town, with opening day activities (a few Saturdays ago) including a parade, ceremony, and carnival. For the parade each team was piled in to the back a truck. With a fire engine leading the way, all the trucks drove down in a line to the ball park. It was fun to watch! Toby had his first game that afternoon. It was a long day, but he loved it!

Pictured with some teammates before the Opening Day Parade.

The Phillies warming up before their first game!

Way to go, Toby!

Although he is not an official coach, Tim is able to be out on the field helping out.

Little brother can't wait for his turn out on the field.

Fortunately for Asher, there are a number of other little siblings (mostly boys) who come to watch their older brothers and sisters play. No, the little guys don't watch the game. Instead they play with trucks in the dirt beside the bleachers and get really dirty. It's great fun all around!

Andrew David is in the house!! ...or he was...and now is missed

Aww...my little brother was in town and perfectly timed to be here on his birthday. I still can't believe he is 27 - how did that happen?! We've missed Andrew since he moved to Reno, so it was especially fun to have him around for a birthday dinner, cake, and card playing (after the boys were in bed). It felt like old times. The boys loved getting in some play time with their uncle, of course!

More on Asher

Asher's half birthday is on February 25th, so we celebrated with half a cake, which we all enjoyed for dessert! (His mommy will use any excuse to eat cake.)

He is getting pretty good at pedaling! The bike and helmet were inherited from Toby.

And...drum roll, please!...he is sitting on the potty!! (and sometimes putting a little something in there...)

More Asher quips:

Asher: I don't like it! (said rather rudely...)
me: Is that how we talk to our mommy?
Asher: I don't like it, please.

-I don't want to sleep. I want to wake up early.

-Mom, I wanna do it myself. I wanna do it myself, Mom.

-Not 3 books. I want to read 1-2-3-4-5 books!

Doesn't he sound just like a two-year-old?

I two.

A little taste of Asher-talk:

-Let's play these. Yeah fun!

-You okay Toby? I'm sorry. You need mommy?

-I give you big, big, big hug!

-I want to eat mama's dinner. (Said as he eyes what mom is eating for breakfast.)



Asher: Mama, is your hair dangerous?
me: No, my hair is not dangerous.
Asher: My hair is dangerous.

The only thing I can gather from that conversation is that I must of told one of the boys to please not touch my hair...and Asher correlated that with the typical warming of, "Don't touch! It's dangerous." He does not like his hair touched either.

Arm Art by Asher

me: Asher, do you want to go on a walk with mommy?
Asher: Ya! That be fun!

The latest big news in Asher's life is that we moved him to a toddler bed. The transition has gone very well!