Boyriend

Raya's got a new boyfriend...His name is Grant. That's all I have to say about that.

First Day vs. Last Day

Last day of school photos were in order. I'm glad I did them because the changes are visible in all three kids. Here's to staying up late, sleeping in, and hanging in PJ's all day if we want. Hello Summer!

Preschool Graduate!

It feels like I have waited forever for this. The time has come and now it seems like my kids are growing up WAY.TO.FAST! Come fall, all my kids will be in regular school. No more preschoolers...I am kind of sad...kind of... but happy to move on to the next stage. Here's my baby...all grown up and a preschool graduate:

Memorial Day

To those I know and those I have never met... Thank you!



We observed Memorial Day down in San Francisco. We were the cool parents who let their kids swim in the ocean when it was 55 degrees outside...You can even see that it was super cold in these photos! My kids are crazy!

















After the ocean, we headed to Point Bonita where we hiked a little bit and crossed a windy bridge to see a lighthouse. The kids thought it was cool...Patrick was freaking out walking over the bridge. I think I have it on video somewhere.













I still can't believe we let our kids play in the ocean. I can still feel the goosebumps on my body from the crisp, cold air...we are awesome parents, ya?

Mother's Day

Patrick asked me if I wanted to tour the San Francisco Bay via boat the day before for Mother's Day as a Mother's Day treat. That was the funniest joke I ever heard. I will not willingly get on a boat to do a site tour...not again anyway. The last time I did that, I lost my just eaten lunch over the side of the boat. So, Patrick invited his mother to join him instead and he took Malia too. Brenda had a blast. I guess Carl, her husband, AKA my Father in Law, loves boats just about as much as I do, so this little outing was a match made in sea water.









On Mother's Day, I invited everyone over for a BBQ. It was a nice gathering with some yummy food. I still had to clean up everything, but whatever...at least I didn't have to share Mother's Day with Patrick's Birthday this year...

Science Camp 2013

Now that Ethan is at a new school, he has the opportunity to do an overnighter field trip with his class each year. This year the class went for a 3 nighter to Westminster Woods. I love that he gets to do these things that he would not have been able to do at his old school. Sure, I am paying a lot more money for these field trips, but the hands on experience is priceless! He had a blast...that is, until the last day when he got punched in the face multiple times by a boy in his class. This particular kid has always been a trouble maker and even I have had a few difficult challenges with him while working in his class. So the story goes like this.

This boy and another girl were playing in a tree. Ethan wanted to play too. The boy said that he couldn't. Ethan supposedly stepped on this kids hand. Now, if he did, I am convinced he did not know that he did it. I had multiple conversations with Ethan to find out if that part actually happened and again, I am convinced it did not. So this kid just halls off and punches Ethan a few times in the face. Ethan runs to an adult crying who then tried to figure out what happened. Once Ethan was able to tell the parent what had happened, the bully kid was approached by the adult and brought to the teacher where he whole heartily denied having done anything to Ethan. So, the teacher did some investigating and found out that there was a witness to this altercation in which the other child playing with them confirms Ethan's story that this kid punched him and did so more than once. Now, on any other day, this kid would have been sent home immediately from camp, however, since they were leaving to come home a few short hours later, he was sentenced to the remainder of the day with the teacher, not able to participate in the last days activities.

The teacher arrived at the school well before Ethan did who told me this story. When Ethan got out of the car, he shoved his face into my gut holding back tears. He was so sad the rest of the day. My heart ached for him. It just makes me want to put my kid in a protective shell for the remainder of his childhood. Despite this incident, he had a blast! They went on multiple hikes, played in tide pools, climbed on a big cargo net, and he became a part of the Banana Slug Club which consists of kissing a banana slug! Gross! Out of the 700 or so pictures that were uploaded to the class website for the Westminster Woods field trip, there was only one picture of a kid kissing a slug...and that was my kid! He's so awesome!

Ethan's Baptism

I couldn't let anymore time pass without a post that focuses on my son, Ethan. He was baptized over a month ago as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It was a very special day, filled with many friends and family. We were able to celebrate him at a luncheon afterwards that filled our house to the brim with people. A sweet spirit was felt throughout the day as I watched, if only for a minute, my perfect son. Clean of all sins and full of the Spirit. He is an amazing boy who is going to do wonders in this world!