Our New Hammock.....

May 2, 2008. Garrett & Aaron testing out the new hammock. I had always wanted a hammock in our backyard. We moved into our house in 2001 and we got our backyard done in 2002. It took 6 years for the trees to get big enough so that we could put up a hammock. We searched and searched for the perfect hammock. We finally found one and put it up between our two pine trees. We love it and we look forward to being lazy in the hammock every spring since then.

I'm Back! Marissa's 5th Birthday (continued)

I never WANTED to stop blogging.....it just happened.

So I'm going to continue where I left off. I have lots of pictures of the kids and the family that I want to share and blog about.

I want the kids to be able to look at the blog in the future and see how everyone's changed (even if I took a break here and there).

So here we are looking at pictures from Marissa's 5th Birthday (nearly 2 years ago!). This was on April 30th, 2008 (her actual birthday).

Gina & I & the boys followed Marissa & Kathy to get Marissa's hair cut for the first time and to get her ears pierced. She was so excited about both events. She got her ears pierced at the mall so we were able to goof around a little with the kids. Then came time to get her ears pierced. It didn't go quite as smoothly as we had hoped. She freaked out just a little bit but Kathy ended up sitting with her and the deed was finally done. She was glad she got them pierced and she still loves to wear her earrings. I'm glad I got to be part of the event.

Marissa's Birthday Party....

When Garrett first saw Marissa with her princess makeover, I remember him saying, "wow, Marissa, you look nice".

We celebrated her birthday with family at John's Incredible Pizza. Actually, Jake & I ended up staying home because Jake had a high fever and wasn't feeling well at all. We were sad to miss it but Aaron was kind enough to take pictures for us. Nevermind that he almost lost my camera while they were playing games.

T-Ball with Lito April 2008....

Here are Garrett & Marissa on the T-Ball field with Lito. This was taken a year ago. The funny thing is that they are on the Green Team again this year but this time Jake is on the team with them. Aaron & Frankie are coaching the team too. So far so good.

And a picture of Jake enjoying the team goodies after their game. This is the part they enjoy the most.

Spring Water Fun.....

These were taken in April 2008, a whole year ago. I remember it being abnormally warm and the kids wanting desperately to go swimming. There was no way I was gonna get near the pool water. I did the next best thing I could think of.....I let them play in the garden hose sprinkler. They loved it.

The Best Part of T-Ball......

Here are the kids after one of their t-ball games. The best part of each game (according to the kids) was getting treats after the game and eating the treats on the bleachers with their team mates. The treats always consisted of a sugary snack washed down with a sugary drink. What more could you ask for? And even though Jake didn't play on the team with Garrett & Marissa, he always got lucky and "earned" a treat too.

Daddy's 34th Birthday.....

Here are pictures from Aaron's 34th Birthday on April 2nd. We spent it with the family by going out to dinner for family style Chinese food and then back to our house for cake and ice cream. We got him a golf net so he could practice hitting golf balls without hitting them at the house or over the house. He FINALLY got around to opening the golf net and setting it up this February (almost a year later).

T-Ball Season 1......

We signed Garrett & Marissa up for T-ball in the Spring of '08. This was the first t-ball experience for both of them. We weren't expecting much from them out there but they actually did pretty well.

The best part for them was getting "snacks" after the games. Marissa played with a right hander's mitt even though she is left handed. Jake loved being outside and playing in the dirt. Garrett was able to hit the ball without the Tee towards the end of the season. We are excited for t-ball this year because the 3 of them will be on the same team. It should make for some entertaining t-ball.

Easter Sunday 2008.....

Here are some pictures of our Easter Sunday before meeting up with the rest of the family. We hid eggs in our backyard for the boys and they loved it.

They loved it so much that whenever Grandma comes over to watch them, the boys make her hide eggs in the backyard. (we kept a box of the plastic eggs because we felt bad just throwing them away...we're being green!)

We store the box way up high in Garrett's closet thinking they'll forget about it. But, nope, they ALWAYS make Grandma get the step stool and take the box down to hide the eggs. It drives me a little crazy but it makes them happy.

And yes, I know my boys are NOT twins. I'm continuously reminded by my sister that they're not twins, so why do I dress them as twins? Because I can and I like too :) I don't have any girls to dress so I have to dress my boys. I know that someday they won't let me dress them at all. I've got to do it while I can.

Coloring Eggs 2008.....

We went to Lita & Lito's the Saturday before Easter to color Easter eggs. The boys were a little more into it this year. Jake was 2 and Garrett was 5. It was a little messier than we would have liked but they had a great time. Their hands were dyed blue for a couple of days and Jake got dye all over his shirt. We're looking forward to this tradition in 2009.

Easter Bunny 2008....

These pictures were taken on March 15th, 2008. We took the kids to the annual PG&E family Easter egg hunt. They all had a great time hunting for eggs, playing games, and eating Easter Candy. We can't wait to do it again in 2009.

Snow Trip 2008 (part 2).....

Here are some more pics of our day trip to the snow. The boys had more fun playing in the snow than riding on the inner tubes. I don't blame them. Some of the hills we found were a little intimidating. That's a picture of me going down a hill right before I hit a bump and fell on my face...I was literally eating snow....not pretty! With the exception of that, it was a beautiful day to play in the snow. Hopefully we can make the time to go again in 2009.

Snow Trip 2008....

We took a road trip to the Sierras in March 2008 to play in the snow. We are not very far from the mountains but this was the first year we ever made a special trip to play in the snow. The kids had seen snow once before at Grandpa & Grandma Laurie's place. This was the second time in their lives that they got to play in the snow. This time we rented inner tubes and the boys were dressed in their snow pants and boots.

We had fun except the boys started getting tired of walking up and down the snow hills. They didn't like that they kept sinking down into the snow. What a workout for Aaron and I! We had to carry Jake around towards the end of our snow play because he was so frustrated he just wouldn't walk anymore. We helped the boys make a snowman and Aaron & I each had a few turns on the inner tubes.

It's Ruby!.....

We have a black cat named Ruby. She's an inside cat and we've had her for about 10 years. She's kind of a scaredy cat in that if you come over for a visit, you would never know we had a cat.

She doesn't like to be around a lot of people and loud noises. She especially does not like to come out when the kids are awake and playing. She spends a lot of time under our bed and in our closet. She will come out when the kids have gone to bed. She loves cuddling with Aaron on the sofa.

Imagine my surprise when I came out to the living room one morning to see her laying with Garrett on the oversized chair. She must have really wanted to cuddle with someone because she never lays still long enough when the kids are around. I thinks she's finally realizing that the kids are here to stay and she's gotta get used to them some time.

Second Hand Drum Set.......

My parent's are next door neighbors with the Spitzer family. The Spitzers have a teenage daughter and a pre-teen son who we've seen grown up since they were born. Whenever the Spitzers have something that their kids have "outgrown", they go to my dad to see if he wants it for his grandchildren. My Dad will never pass up a free toy for his grandkids.

This is one of those toys we inherited from the Spitzer family. We inherited a kid size drum set. Of course we rolled our eyes when Dad said that he got something for the boys. We begrudgingly took the drum set home to our garage where it sat for a couple of weeks until Garrett saw it and desperately wanted to make some music. We hauled part of the set inside and let them go at it. It IS quite entertaining for the boys but I don't think they have a career in it. But you never know.

Garrett Turns 5.....

Garrett's 5th Birthday was February 21st, 2008. He woke up to a dining room decorated in "Thomas the Train" motif, which he loved at the time. He was so excited that there were streamers and balloons all over the dining and living rooms. Aaron and I decorated the house the night before so Garrett could be surprised.

I will never forget how happy he was all day long. His birthday fell on a Thursday so I had to go to work for a little bit. I left at lunch to pick him up at preschool and we came home and spent the afternoon together. We played legos and colored. It was true quality time with my little guy and he loved it. We waited for Aaron and Jake to come home and then we all went out to dinner to celebrate with the rest of the family.