2yr old - Preschool Graduation

This week was Wil's final week of school. He has learned so much this year! It amazes me that he can count to almost 20 all by himself (the only reason I say almost is he gets caught up at 14 and 16 and needs a little reminding), he can count to 10 in Spanish too!
He knows most of his colors, pink, brown, yellow, green, red, blue, purple, white, black...well you get the idea.
One of his favorite games to play while we ride bikes around the neighborhood or walk through the grocery store is point out shapes or go on shape hunts. We obviously do this a lot because on Wed on the way to storytime Claira was eating a bag of mixed snacks and yelled, CIRCLE!!! William looked at her in as much shock as I felt and said "YEAH! Hey, where did you find that cookie?"
The main and most important , to me, that he has learned in school is self reliance. He has the courage now to ask or talk to adults without my help or support. He has learned to make friends and most important how to treat his friends. His self-esteem is out of this world. He will sing out loud, sometimes a bit TOO loud.
During this final week of school we have been crazy busy, along with having crazy weather! On Tuesday it was beautiful day, and before school William went out to the garden and picked two BIG bags of lettuce for his teachers. As he picked we talked about how the garden grows. "It needs Sun, Dirt, and Water. Mommy, Daddy, Claira and ME take care of it to help it grow. GOD helps us too by giving us rain and pretty days." When he gave his teachers the bags they asked where did this come from and he said, "our garden, God helps us grow it". Again something he has learned in school is GOD.
On Thursday his class came over for an end of the year party. It was crazy! The weather had changed from beautiful to stormy. So our outside water party came inside. It was poring! Winds up to 60mph, Tornado warnings, thunder and lightning, then to top it off a power outage! The kids all had so much fun they didn't hardly notice the bad weather, until the power went out then they all ran around screaming. Some were saying "the house ran out of batteries!" others like Wil were just yelling, "NO ELECTRICITY!" Oh the craziness, but after a while we didn't notice the lack of power.




Today, Friday, was Wil's graduation ceremony. I had to brave the crazy weather first thing to pick up the cake, balloons and get it all to school by 9. That seems like a reasonable amount of time to do it but it was raining so hard I could hardly see where I was going, even with the wipers going full speed! After safely returning home to get the rest of the family I found a feverish little girl who was cranky with the expected arrival of a new tooth, a little boy who was fussy and kept telling me, "Mommy I don't feel good" and a Daddy who was starting to look forward to going to work ;) Wil still wanted to go to his graduation party, mostly for the 'birthday' cake so off we went with tissues stuffed into his pocket (yes I was that mom who took her sick kid to school but how could I let him miss his graduation? And now after his nap and a movie with popcorn he says he feels ALL better, so we'll see). They sang all their favorite songs from the year, even little sick William tried his best to sing and received his little diploma.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Then they had 'birthday' cake!

"She Thinks My Tractors Sexy..."

We'll this was a Mother's Day gift I forgot to mention. While Claira was napping last Sunday the boys went and came home with this!


It was Wil's dream! Andy said he was skipping around Lowe's telling everyone, "I'm gonna get a TRACTOR!" I guess he also had to have the floor model, much to Andy's dismay. He didn't want one from the back or one from outside he wanted the (scratched) one he played on inside. So since he gets everything he wants he got the floor model, Andy said he just couldn't say no to such a big smile.


When they got home, unloaded, Wil let Claira have a turn to climb on it (such a nice brother, HA, HA!). Isn't she cute? Wil stood back with his arms folded as I took the picture and said, "Mommy, you see my tractor's smile?"


She did get a turn to ride on it but once it started to move she started Yelling, "NO! NO! NO!" and ran back to her swing. Her and baby were much happier observing from the swing then participating.


The tractor just this week has had many hours of play, caused many fights and all it has done is sit in the garage! Just think if they were teenagers and it was car! Oh what we have to look forward to...


Kenny says it all----"She's always staring at me, As I'm chugging along...."
Click to see me mow!

My Montage 5/13/08

Mothers Day 2008

Hand Prints On The Wall
One day as I was picking
the toys up off the floor,
I noticed a small hand print
on the wall beside the door.

I knew that it was something
that I'd seen most every day,
but this time when I saw it there
I wanted it to stay.

Then tears welled up inside my eyes,
I knew it wouldn't last
for every mother knows
her children grow up way to fast.

Just then I put my chores aside
and held my children tight.
I sang to them sweet lullabies
and rocked into the night.

Sometimes we take for granted,
all those things that seem so small.
Like one of God's great treasures...
A small hand print on the wall

Last Tuesday I went to Muffins with Mom with William and he gave me my first mothers day gift. It was a book that he and his teachers had made. I didn't know but while we were at the park a few back Ms. Melissa had taken a photo of the kids and she incorporated that into Wil's painting for the cover. They also filled the book with poems (above), his hand prints, quotes and interview. The interview was as follows...

My Mommy....
by William

What is mommy's favorite color? Blue and brown----its actually yellow and green but I guess I like blue and brown

What do you love to do with mommy? Go on a bike ride----guess I'll do this more often

What is your favorite food taht mommy cooks? Pizza and Muffins!---I am not surprised, I am very over blueberry muffins.

How old do you think mommy is? FIVE ---- I am very glad I'm not five, but to him I know that is OLD

If you could go to a store and buy mommy ANYTHING you wanted, what would you get for her? flowers!--- a friend of mine got hers and it said "An Alligator!" Lucky her :)

Last night when I received my first gift of the weekend. Andy got home from work, yes on a Saturday, about 4:00 and took the kids for an hour or so to go shopping for Mothers Day. When they returned, William came running into the house yelling, "MOMMY! MOMMY! We got you something for Mother's Day" I responded with a big hug and said, "I'm so excited". He then proceded to tell me in front of his drop mouth Daddy, "I got you flowers, their orange and pink. But SSSSSHHHHHHHH its a secret :) Daddy is going to put them out on the counter after you go to bed." He was so excited all I could do was laugh and give him a hug. Andy just stood there in shock. Then said, We'll buddy I guess we need to work the definition of a secret. I guess he also insisted that they get me a card, and he wrote "LOVE WILLIAM" on it and Claira scribbled something cute. And I guess this week the Mail Lady is going to bring me a new Diaper backpack! Very excited, I have no idea how I will fit 3 kids of snacks, drinks, and cups into my current bag. The kids also made hand prints over at the neighbors house and Melanie printed a cute poem to go alone with them. Very sweet of them to do. My Mom also sent a very pretty hair clip with green stones along with a nice book of mommy quotes.






And my gift from Claira...we'll look for your self. She's growing so fast and joined us for dinner AT the table with no baby high chair tray! Can you belive my baby is eating corn on the cob with us at the table!


She even took her own dish in just like her brother. And such a proud little guy he was helped her reach the counter and told her, "careful Claira, don't spill"

Rancheros Vistadores Ride

Nearly 1000 riders paraded down the HWY in the California Santa Ynezz Valley herding many longhorns and cattle. The Rancheros Vistadores are in the 78th year (began in 1930)of their historic ride which begins with the traditional blessing at Mission Santa Ines and takes the cowboys (real ones and wanabees like my Dad), politicians, civic leaders and many riding clubs northward 60 miles for a week of camping behind Lake Cachuma. This is not a typical camping trip, in fact it is not your typical club. It is said to be the largest riding group of its kind in the world. During the week there are elaborate ceremonies and games. Their meals are elaborate and nobody goes hungry.
Participants are supposed to and encouraged to wear 'authentic' cowboy fashion. Members are broken up into camps, such as Los Amigos, Los Tontos, Los Vigilantes, Los Flojos and Los Borrachos. Former United States President Ronald Reagan and former California Supreme Court Justice William P. Clark belonged to Campo Adolfo. Los Gringos, Los Borrachos, and Los Chingadores are camps with many participants that are also members in the Bohemian Club. Camp Maverick is for newcomers, and as imagined, there is relentless hazing. The newcomers of Camp Maverick are encouraged to fight back.
My Dad is a Maverick with the 4Q Camp of Los Chingadores and yes he did his hazing a few years back. He didn't seem to to get his but kicked like many other men do, but remember he's 55 years old and many newbes are younger so I think he had age on his side. He did get his brand new Maverick vest torn to pieces but he made it through and has such a good time with all these guys acting like a "man". I personally think it is funny to hear about the silly pranks they pull on eachother, its like being at girlscout camp when your 13.
All I can say is my dad is home safe, dirty, and sore today along with his beautiful horse Chopper. And they are both looking forward to next year. Here are some pictures my Mom took of my Dad as he rode through the mission. He is in on Chopper a red/brown horse with a white nose and has a cowboy hat on with a black vest.

Exploring the Studio

Today William was invited to "Bring a Friend to Gymnastic Day" at The Studio Upside Down. He had so much fun; it is unfortunate that we will be out of town during their summer classes, but I will be sure to sign him up for the fall classes. They got to do the trampoline, the rock wall, swing on the rings, and practice his forward rolls!

Claira also had fun, they have a little area for the siblings to play! And she too will be doing a "Mommy and Me" class there in the fall (they said it was ok for the new baby to come too!).


After Class Wil got a sucker and he is so sweet he let Claira have some licks! Claira got some fruit snacks because the few licks she got just weren't enough. Wil asked if he could have one, "Please". "NO!" after a few tries and reminding her of the licks she gave him TWO!!! She is making progress in the sharing, YEAH!

Muffins With Mom

Today was a special day at school. The teachers and kids threw a party for all the mommies. It was a pre-mothers day party. I enjoyed all of it, the cute little gifts and the yummy fruit even though Wil drank most of my lemonade. He tasted it and said, "Mommy I love this, it is my new favorite! You are lucky to get this in your cup, can I trade you?" Yeah, buddy let me give you my yummy lemonade and I'll take your EMPTY juice box...I did share it with him but passed the offer for the empty juice box.

While Wil and enjoyed a morning of muffins and lemonade Claira had a playdate with her best friend. When I first dropped her off she was so excited with little bag in tow and baby in hand. But when I went to leave and told her, "alright I've got to go, your going to stay and play." She said "NO" threw down her balls and came running. OH GOSH this is not going to go well. But she just ran over with her fish face on (kiss face), gave me a kiss and waved "Bye Bye" . As you can see she had a blast. The girls played so well she was invited back anytime! Something a mommy loves to hear.

Banana Bread and Pig Tails

The weekend began with a crazy thunderstorm and very high winds. So to make the best of it we tried to make a movie day! That was a no go, Wil had his eyes covered yelling "TURN IT OFF" before we even got to get the Genni out of the lamp! (it was Aladin) So he played with blocks, Andy played on the computer and Claira turned out to be one of the best banana squashers ever. The last 3 slices of her bread were being fought over at breakfast this morning



Though it stared out a rainy weekend it cleared up and we spent a lot of time outside. Claira wore her hair in pig tails for the first time, and managed to keep them in till after lunch! She and William also helped Daddy work on some trim for the fish tank. Claira was the holder and William's job was to sand it, they are a wonderful team!