We did it!

K & I cut our hair today to donate to Locks of Love.

http://locksoflove.org/

K got her hair cut by someone other than mommy for the first time! We went short! Its going to take me some time getting used to - at least for me. K already loves her new do. She can't wait to go to school on Monday to show it off.

The kid's are celebrities!

The kids made the front page of the March 20, 2008 Independent! I don't think the link will be good next week, but you can look up the past issues.

http://www.independentnews.com/

Happy Birthday Daddy - Happy St. Patrick's Day

K picked out her clothes today. Of course, it was the skirt & vest that Grandma S. made her. She wore it to the parade & then to the festival. Last night I put the kids in the shower early, so I could wash all their St. Patrick's Day clothes. Of course when she walked into school this morning, the first thing everyone said was look how cute. A 5 year old can pull off that outfit! And she loves the attention! Her first response though was this..."I'm wearing this outfit 3 days in a row!" I had to laugh and then tell her that she shouldn't tell people that!

Happy Early St. Patty's Day!

We went to the Dublin St. Patrick's Day Parade & Festival today. Luckily the weather held out for us. It was a little chilly now & then, but at least it was dry! Have a great weekend.

Time change

Its been a busy week and so it did fly by pretty fast. As every week has lately. Monday though, I did not think we would make it through the week. After the time change Sunday night, you would have thought the world was going to end! Both kids had the worst Monday morning. K wanted to draw a picture on the car window in the dew, Bubs messed it up & it was all over. There were tears all the way to school - of course thats really not that far! But we drove to Bubs school first, just so she could shake it off. Once we got to school she raced me to the front door. But once inside, she started to cry again. This was the only time I could remember her crying when I dropped her off for school. She wanted mommy to stay & play. Miss J had to pull her aside so I could leave. Once I got to work, I called to check in on her. She was quiet, but no longer crying. I think "Springing Forward" really threw her off!

That night, the kids were just bouncing off the walls, fighting over toys. By 7:30 I told them it was time for bed. (Really, with the hopes of getting them both in bed by their normal time - 8!) Bubs had something to say though. He looked outside & said "Its not bedtime mommy, its not dark outside." Its only March! I just can't wait until summer when its still light out at 9pm!

Disney on Ice

Last night we went to see Disney on Ice. It didn’t matter one bit to the two 3 ½ year olds boys that it was called “Princess Wishes.” They all had a blast. We went w/ our playgroup friends - a boy Bubs age & a girl K’s age. We also met up w/ another mom, husband & 2 girls. Our 2 girls chose to wear their princess dresses, so we took Aurora (K) and Cinderella to the ice show. Daddy bought all 10 tickets for us for a good price & we had great seats. (Thank you!) It was a cute performance that was even entertaining to boys. Who doesn’t like to watch a Prince fight off the evil Dragon & its fire! There were pirates (Bubs favorite) in the Ariel part of the show. The 2 girls sang along to every one of the Princess songs. And they knew better than their moms what was coming up next. This morning Bubs woke up and asked if he could go see it again!

A little bit of history...

Mom & A- I hope you don't mind me using this, but here's just a little bit about me. Some interesting info & pictures. A letter from my mom to an old friend! Hopefully one day we'll meet again. http://homestate.blogspot.com/
A,
Keep the blogging coming - We love it! We so enjoy hearing about your life and family in Alaska. We were there in Babbitt, NV, the day you were brought home from the hospital. We were also there the day your parents packed up the Ford Bronco and trailer with all their possessions to drive up to Alaska for the first time. Boy that was a LONG time ago - 1973. After you left with your family for Alaska, L was born and we moved to Taiwan in 1974. A few years passed and we again met up in Germany. We came in November of 1976. I'm not too sure when you actually arrived in Germany, but I do remember meeting all of you in a hotel room in Worms after your arrival. I remember it because we actually got a 10 Mark ($5) parking ticket for not having our parking sign in the car window that day. Here's one of the first pictures I could find with you in it. It was taken at Christmas 1978, in our apartment in Laudenbach. I'm sure you know all the kids - T, L, W, A, & C.

We all had a lot of good times when the families got together - Going to fests, parades, or just hanging out at each others houses. We even found some home movies of all the kids in a small pool out in back of the your house. There was another family - the Feitshans - from our Hawthorne

days who was also in Germany at the same time. We spent a couple of Thanksgivings all together in Germany. Here are a couple pictures of the entire crew. It was taken in 1980, but not at Thanksgiving because we left that year in October. It must have been a farewell dinner at your house.
1) Left to right - L, C, A, SF, T, and W.


2) The WHOLE crew - Left to right - Bottom Row: GS, C, GS, J, LF, S, C, & WF. Top row: SF, L, A, W, & T

A lot has happened in all our lives since those days. We even spent another 13-1/2 years in Germany from 1988-2001. It's amazing that you and L have managed to find each other and keep in touch. L was six when she actually last saw you. Maybe some day you'll be able to meet again.
G and I are retired now and living in Henderson, NV. Back in Nevada again! We have lots of free time to read your blog so keep it coming. If you have a chance, pass our email address on to your father. G would love to hear from your dad. Who knows - we might even make it up to Alaska some day.

All the best to you and your family,
G & G S

Look Chip Truck!

Its amazing how seeing Daddy & his truck first thing in the morning can change the kids moods! Just as we were leaving the house today, the kids fought over who could turn off the TV. Amazing what they fight over! K was mad at me because I put her hair up on the side of her head & not the middle “like I should have.” There were tears. We all made it in the car though. Then I realized I forgot my cell phone so I ran back into the house to get it & drove off.

I used that cell phone to call Daddy to see where he was at. Sure enough he was not far from us since his route is in Dublin. We pulled into the Big Lots parking lot & their eyes lit up when they saw the “Chip Truck.” He came out of the store to greet us & within minutes we were off to their schools. But now they were in a better mood & there were no more tears! I got my hugs & kisses from each of them and the morning ended much better than it started.

Until that is – I got a call while pulling into my work parking lot. My dear neighbor called me to say I left the garage door open! I knew it as soon as I saw her number on my phone. That just sums up my Wednesday morning! She helped close it for me & we all got on with our day. Yeah hump day is almost over!

Power Outage

Around 7am yesterday (1/2 an hour before we head out the door) the power went out in our house. It attempted to come back on quickly & then stayed off. For a minute I thought I blew a circuit, but I really wasn't doing anything to cause that to happen. I ended up calling PG&E to confirm that there was an outage & that electricity would be restored by 9:30. The kids were watching a little morning TV while eating their cereal when it went out. They didn't know what to think. This hasn't happened too often that they really know what was going on. Bubs stated the following that had me cracking up... "Mom, maybe the batteries went out in the TV."

Good guess. I then showed them how the light was out in the fridge & that everything else was out too. I tried to explain that something caused the entire houses electricity to go out. And then K proceeded to tell me a story about a bird on a power line caused it to break... Such imaginations. I love it! When the power is out though, kids are not themselves. I took them to K's daycare where the power was also out & all the kids there seemed a little wired themselves. Something new & different happens & their behaviors change!?! Weird.

Science Fair Project - Kindergarten!

Thanks Aunt Shell for the Science Fair Project idea. We had fun on Saturday mixing colored frostings! Both Bubs & K got involved & I tried my hardest to relax & let them do it. I just didn't want the dye all over the place! K learned how we could create all these colors from just Yellow, Red & Blue. And then the best part was the end - they dipped mini vanilla wafers into the frosting to eat!

A real treat of a day!

Yesterday was a very busy day for us. Daddy & Bubs dropped us off at great grandma's while they went off for a haircut. Bubs got a new buzz! Check it out in the photo.

They came back & we took her out for lunch. We decided on Val's Burgers right down the road. http://www.yelp.com/biz/vals-burgers-hayward For more info. I was craving a burger & it hit the spot! We also introduced the kids to an old fashioned milkshake. You should have seen Bubs face when they delivered it to out table. His eyes POPPED out, I wish we had the camera. It was priceless. One milkshake was enough to split 3 ways. The kids & I had it while Daddy & Grandma had a taste. I had to have them set it aside though until they ate their hot dogs! Sure enough they gobbled up their food so they could drink their "treat!"

If the morning activities weren't enough, we came home & played outside while daddy mowed the lawn. And then it was time for the spa. Another treat for the kids. It was a beautiful day for a dip!

Testing website

So, I'm thinking of changing my blog to this site. It seems easier to use. I can easily add photos. Not sure why I didn't switch back in 2005. Here's my new favorite photo. Daddy watching his princess.

Happy Birthday Bubs!

- guess you enjoyed your cake...