Last Day of Kindergarten!

Xander had a great year with Mr. G.  But he was super excited for it to end so that he could move on to the first grade!  Pictures shown are Xander and Mr. G, his congrats trophy ceremony, wearing the shirt he wore on the first day, and with Abby who was born the first week of school as a reminder of how much he has grown this year.  (And Violet is pictured b/c she wanted to be in the picture too:)

Xander's favorite part of kindergarten was recess and playing with his buddy's: Andrew, Isaac, Matthew and Evan!  They are all super awesome and I feel blessed that Xander picked GREAT friends.  He learned lots of Spanish and he is so excited to learn more in first grade.

On the last day of school, Xander came home ECSTATIC that he had learned the COOLEST thing. I was so excited to see what it was.  There have been very few days that Xander came home this excited about learning something so I was all over it.  We then got home and he threw up his shirt and started using his armpit to make farting sounds.  And he was so happy--"Mom! Aren't you so glad Zane taught me how to do that!"  He showed every one and has continued to practice his new found talent.

Xander also received a great report card from Mr. G.  And I'll never forget the sound of relief in his voice as he read, "Xander will be very successful in first grade."  "Mom!" He yelled, "That means I passed!"  We are so proud buddy!

Xander

 Got home and found this note. My Mom (who was hanging out w/ the kids) said Xander wanted me to think it was from her.  I was super impressed by the handwriting!

 While I was cutting out patterns, Xander grabbed this scrap and said, "I'm the prince of Egypt!" 

Xander doesn't get a lot of posts on this blog but I must do a shot out to this boy. I just LOVE him to PIECES!  He is growing up way too fast.  I cannot believe he finishes kindergarten in 2 days.  While he has loved kindergarten, he is very ready for first grade.  He's been asking since Christmas when he starts 1st.  :)  Xander is a great big brother.  He will play with any of his sisters.  Right now his goal is to make me happy.  He even told Grandma today (as he pulled in the garbage can off the street), I'm going to do this because it makes mommy happy.  Oh buddy, just seeing you smile makes me happy! (but you can bring the trash in too!)  I am so grateful that I have at least one little boy because he has me wrapped around his fingers and I am so smitten!

Memorial Day 2012

Not many pictures were taken but I have to write down what an AMAZING weekend we had!

On Saturday, my parents offered to take Xander & Eliza to the county fair.  They picked them up at 9:30AM and brought them home around 2PM.  They had a BLAST!  Pictures will follow.  Ben & I and the little ones worked like crazy and got sprinklers going and the garage cleaned so i can park inside!  Once the kids got home, Ben & the older ones went to our friends house to help with their flooring project.  I brought pizza over awhile later for a picnic only to have a downpour while we ate.  Adventures all the time!

The kids woke us up EARLY on Monday. It's been the story of our lives lately--very few people are sleeping through the night and they're waking up super early.  Well, we decided to go with it and started working in the yard by 7am.  Xander and Eliza slept a little past but once they were awake we took a family walk to the Waffle Barn and had breakfast.  We got home and got back to work on the yard.  The kids played with their neighborhood friends.  Our neighbors, the Plylers, invited us to swim  during the afternoon so we joined them.  After which we fired up the BBQ and played baseball with the rest of the neighborhood for a couple hours. 

Why I loved this weekend so much: Ben & I felt PRODUCTIVE. It's been awhile since we have felt that way.  The challenge of having our kids so close is that we cannot get much done.  I can get my house straightened but I cannot get it cleaned. I can shoot a quick email but forget about writing something deep (unless I stay up late like I am right now).  Everything feels half done and it is frustrating.  Thank you to my parents and our neighborhood for helping us get a few things DONE this weekend.  I also loved that we were NOT overbooked.  We RELAXED and did things as they came or didn't come.  While this isn't my favorite way to live life, it is working much better than scheduling everything. 

Which brings me to another topic.  Postpartum.  Yah, it hit me big time again this time. I think it hit the worst after the accident in January until recently.  The accident just sent me down a spiral of sad, angry destruction.  It's been rough.  But with the help of family & friends, I am starting to finally feel like a real person and like I could actually socialize again.  It's been rough. I had a lot of anxiety and a lot of loneliness.  But I look forward to actually getting to know the world around me again: my new neighborhood, my new ward (even though it's been a year) and even some of the people I've met since being back in Folsom (2 years now!) because I think that this fog has been off and on since Violet was born.  One day at a time. One step at a time.  I can do it.  I feel strong and I feel good.  I just have to remember to take it slow.  Thank you to every one who has still been my friend and who has been there to help me along the way.  I am so happy and so blessed and so grateful for who I am, who I have become and who I will become.

2 Years Old!

VIOLET TURNED 2!

 Traditional Birthday Doughnut

 Violet got her very own apron this year.  She was so excited!

 She finally got her Elmo cake!

 (not quite what we envisioned but it tasted good!)

She still loves to be outside and as you can see--she is growing! Same scooter exactly 1 year apart.  Violet is an amazing girl--full of love and laughter and songs.  She tries really hard to be good and be nice.  She is great with her baby sister--she struggles with the older ones.  She tries to help-she loves putting soap in the dishwasher, feeding Abby or holding her bottle, cleaning up.  So far, she is our most picky eater and our most petite.  She LOVES the color yellow, Elmo, Dora, singing and her grandparents, to dress herself, feed herself and do things on her own.  She is an amazing girl with lots of energy and love.  We are so grateful that she is part of our family! 

Urban League Dinner 2012

For the 3rd consecutive year, we got invited to go the Urban League dinner. Super fancy, black tie shindig in Sacramento.  I fit in my dress from Paris this year--that made me feel really good.  It was a nice dinner and the first time we've gone and I was not pregnant.  :)  I sure love my husband!!

Boys v Girls

 While the boys did this:

The girls did this:

 The father & sons campout still leaves a pretty full house here.  I had several ideas of fabulous things to do with the girls--we only accomplished one.  For some reason, all 3 woke up EARLY, like 6 AM early.  So I dressed and fed them and took them down to the city park to sign them up to participate in the Run With Nature.  It's an annual race here and the kids get to do a 1/2 mile through the park & zoo for free.  We met up with some friends there, strapped Abby on and ran.  It was SO MUCH FUN!  Eliza ran with her friends (and some of Xander's) and Violet ran with me.  They both did awesome.  Violet ran the whole time and lots of parents used her to encourage their little ones.  We had fun with the activities afterwards and then headed home.  Only sad thing: once I got to the car (which was not parked close) we realized that I did not have keys...they must have fallen out...so we had to walk all the way back and then back to the car.  I had very tired girls and one very tired Mommy but we stayed positive and were still happy when we got home.

The boys had a great time at the campout.  Xander made some new friends, Ben made some friends and they had fun eating junk food.  

San Francisco

The CEO of Intel, Paul Ottelini, invited Ben's work group to come to a dinner, Crucible of Innovations Farewell Awards Dinner, in San Francisco, to give his thanks for the "Stay With it" project he had worked on.  As part of it all, Ben was allowed to bring a date and stay in the city on Intel.  Our parents were super helpful and took the kids so that I could make it down there.  Kudos to the Websters who had all 3 girls.  My folks kept Xander so he wouldn't miss school and Open House.

Here are some of our adventures:

 Room with a view! 

We were on the 25th floor of the Westin St. Francis

 My first ever room service & breakfast in bed.  Despite the INSANE price, I did enjoy my breakfast.  

We explored the city in the morning:

The dinner. held at the Exploratorium, was very enjoyable too. I sat just behind Intel's CEO.  Adam Savage, from MythBusters, was the main speaker and there were past award recipients whose credentials were awe-inspiring.  One such was the man credited with finding the bones of "Lucy."  We felt very honored to attend a dinner with such decorated peoples and are super grateful for our little getaway.  Ben got to sit next to the Senior VP of HR at Intel--good times were had by all!

Flower Hunt

Our overgrown yard is FULL of roses!  I've been curious as to just how many different colors there were.  I was not feeling well Sunday morning and so I decided to stay home from church.  The rest of our family followed suit so I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to go on a hunt for flowers.  Every one had a blast!

And we found 12 different colors.  I was amazed at how different each flower was--the stems, thorns and all.  Roses anyone?

3rd Wheel

Ben won tickets to a premiere showing of "The Avengers".  We got a babysitter and invited my folks.  My Dad couldn't make it so we took my Mom--Ben, me & Mom.  Fun times!

Growing Up

Eliza is certainly growing up and learning LOTS!  She is really into writing right now.  She LOVES to write my lists for me.  I just have to spell the words and she writes them all down. I am so proud of how hard she tries!

Desflies de Colores

The Spanish Kindergarten classes did a program for parents.  It was so fun.  I didn't realize how choked up I would get and how proud of my son I would be.  (He is the first after all to be in school).  It was very fun. My Dad and Ben's Mom were able to make it to the show. Xander took the show very seriously and practiced his singing non-stop. And now we all practice with the CD have...

 

Violet got to come and she was so well behaved! I was so proud of her!  She called the CD we listen to Xander's music. And was so proud of her brother--cheering the whole time!  It was super cute.