Thursday, May 28, 2009

Beautiful disaster

Catch the grounder, tag first base, runner out.


Official bench warmer and bug catcher
Let's get ready to rock.


Beautiful Disaster (by 311, one of my favorite bands from back in the day).
That's the name of the song that Nate played for his class today for his show and tell/talent (Kindergartners aren't allowed to be in the upcoming talent show and Nate was BUMMED so Mrs. Burrows let him do the talent to start the day today). Sometimes life feels like a beautiful disaster around here. Don't get me wrong, all is well. Very well. Dave is outrageously busy with (mostly) first time buyers. Ian is thriving in swim lessons. Nate is loving baseball and is really starting to get a few real plays in on the field (even though they don't actually have 'outs' in t-ball). And as far as me, well, let's just say some days the house is a Beautiful Disaster.

Saturday, May 23, 2009

How does your garden grow?

Garden update: Lettuce, onion, radish, peas, tomatoes, yellow pepper, strawberries all up growing. Squash, zucchini, carrots, cucumber planting soon!

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Last Day, Best Year

Front row, far right is Ian next to his bff Samson
Hand motions are the best

Cookie party. I think they each had about 3!

Fabulous Teacher Renn and Polar Bear, who got Ian through many a sad morning early in the year.
Ian finished up his 3's class at Prince of Peace today. All the 3's kids put on a musical show of the songs and sign language that they have learned all year. Ian was very excited to show off what he had learned! The class concluded with a cookie party and then we had a slide show of all the photos that Mrs. Renn had taken all year. Considering how we started the year (tears, anxiety), Ian has come a long way and matured a ton.


Tuesday, May 19, 2009

The Final Leg of the Race, Part 4





If you are just joining us, scroll down to Part one for the full effect of our adventure! Sunday was go home day. Ian, our hotel lover, was just devastated to leave the hotel (and you have to pronounce it "hoe-tail" with a long "a", kinda southern). Our return flight was delayed so we had as much fun as you can have in the Sacramento airport. Boarding the plane, the boys were invited into the cockpit and they were even allowed to touch stuff!


The Amazing Race California Part 3









This next day has us staying close to the hotel for a day of swimming, swimming and more swimming. The Shuster's had us over for a family bbq and pre-birthday party for Ian. Nate and his similarly-goofy cousin Emma had swim races and cannon ball contests at the pool while Ian practiced his steamboats (minus face in the water).


The Amazing Race California Part 2












Day 3 (or full day 2 if you will) begins as every day did in our hotel room...with a rousing round of "Jumpy Jumpy," a game the boys invented years ago on our living room couches. The goal - jump and be silly. Jump from thing to thing and try not to kill yourself or upset your mom. I gave up on trying to get them NOT to jump on the furniture long ago...

This leg of the race took us first to Fairfield to the Jelly Belly Factory, via In and Out Burger for the ride down. Since I am a big Food TV Unwrapped fan, I insisted we do the factory tour. It was Friday so the factory was in full swing. Besides the new Cold Stone flavors that were being made, a new batch of Cinnamon was being processed and the smell was intense. Of course, you know we had to stop at the gift shop and let everyone load up a bag of their favorites. Nate: 7-up, kiwi, Sunkist orange. Ian: Sunkist orange, banana, blueberry, cherry.

Back in Sac. we spent the remainder of the afternoon with the Shuster's and Shnairson's swimming and having dinner. The boys had a blast with the cousins that they have not seen in nearly 2 years!

The Amazing Race California (or not) Part 1

Life sized sea lions
If ya misbehave we will send you to Alcatraz
I am in heaven...chowdah!

Just cuz we can.
That's Nate, Ian and I below the sign


As you know, we jetted down to California last week, pretty spur of the moment, for a funeral. 4 ridiculously priced tickets later, the adventure began. A 35 minute airport commute took nearly an hour and a half and we nearly missed our plane (first we were told we were too late to check in, then we were told we could fly but w/o our luggage, and finally we were allowed to fly with our luggage as carry-on's minus the big bottles of lotions and potions I had packed.) Phil Keoghan would have for sure been waiting for us in Sacramento saying "Shuster Family, you are the last team to arrive. You have been eliminated from the race."

The next morning we took off for Hayward for Danny's funeral. It was a nice, quick graveside service followed by lunch with the family. Since we were already pretty close, we headed into San Francisco for a looooooong day of fun. We put on our tourist hats so to speak and got SF hoodies (it was windy as usual and the boys were freezing), saw the Sea Lions, Toured Pier 39, watched some crazy street performers (the world famous Bushman) and sunk our feet into the sand at Ocean beach before the fog rolled in.

Needless to say, everyone was exhausted but had fun during our first busy day.

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Rest in Peace, Danny


Later this week we will celebrate the life of Danny Petroi, Dave's grandmother's husband, who died on Sunday at age 91. This is a picture of Nate at nearly 3 months with Maxine and Danny.

Monday, May 11, 2009

Mothers Day, Year 6










I am having a harder time believing that my second baby is turning 4 in a few weeks than that my first baby is a toothless 6 year old. But yesterday I celebrated my 6th mothers day, thanks to both of those goof balls! How is that even possible?! The little boys and I woke up yesterday and went to church and got doughnuts. Then we came home and made stepping stones to put in our growing garden. Easier said than done. Nate wanted his to look just like the picture on the box. That's all well and good assuming that they give you the same colored glass pieces pictured on the front. Not even close! Anyway, Ian pooped out after about 5 minutes, preferring to play in the dirt and look for worms. Nate decided to go with the abstract jeweled look and I did my best to finish mine and Ian's before the cement set too much. Oh well, all in a days work. They will be a fine addition to our garden.
After Dave got home from showing houses (totally mom approved - it sucks that he can't be here all the time but selling houses has to come first!) we headed up to the Westby's property for a all-Dad planned and prepared meal. The boys had fun exploring on their own for the first time. They went off to explore the woods, streams and old roads with only themselves, two squirt guns, and dad's cell phone! Ahhh, to be a child in 2009. Nate was sure to call and report in about every 5 minutes.