My Little Goofball.....

Pictures of Jake taken April 30, 2008. He's 2 years old here. I remember him coming out of his room with these glasses on and no pants. I think we had told him to put his pjs on and he got side tracked and came out with the star glasses. I love this kid. And I can't believe he's not 2 anymore.

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.

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.

Jake's 1st day of Pre-School.......

Jake's 1st day of Pre-School was April 7th, 2008. He was 2 years and 7 months. Here he is posing with his new "Thomas" back pack. He was ready and excited to go to pre-school. He had heard so much talk about Garrett's pre-school experience and now it was his turn.

Jake had no problems adjusting to his new environment (except for a couple of biting incidents...oops!). He was ready to learn and be stimulated in the classroom. We always laugh because his teachers reassured us that he was an "Angel" at school. He listens, follows directions, is helpful, and friendly to others.

The Jake we know doesn't do any of those things at home which is why it was so hard to believe that he was the "Angel" they claimed he was at school. He only goes to school 3 days a week and when he's not there, the teachers miss him terribly. His favorite teacher, Ms. Stephanie, never wants us to take him home. I'm glad that his school experience brings out the "Angel" in Jake :)

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.

Mommy's Uggs......

The boys have an obsession with my shoes. They like to use them as toys and whenever they find them laying about the house, they have to try them on. It doesn't matter what kind of shoes they are. They don't like to play with Aaron's shoes because his are too heavy to play with.

This particular day I had my uggs in the dining room and Jake found them. He thought it was funny to put them on and walk around with them. He wouldn't take them off. He said they were soft. I know they aren't the prettiest shoes in the world, but they ARE very comfy.

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.

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.

Valentine's Day 2008....

Here are a couple of pictures from Valentine's Day 2008. Growing up, my parents always made Valentines day special for us. We always got some kind of "treat" that day. It was usually candy, See's Candy, and I always looked forward to that day.

I try to make Valentine's Day special for the boys and Marissa too. I know it doesn't mean much to them now, but I hope when they are adults, they will remember this day being made special for them too.

P.S. It's fun writing about this day almost a year later....look at Jake. He still looks "babyish". Marissa looks a lot younger too. They change so much. This is also a good reminder NOT to cut Jake's hair so short :)

More Christmas Eve Traditions......

I like to get the kids matching pajamas for Christmas Eve & Morning. Here they are showing off their PJs with Lita and Tia and then with Santa (Lito). I'm pretty sure this will be the last year that Lito will be able to "play" Santa. Garrett was pretty sure Santa sounded a lot like Lito. We're gonna have to hire a neighbor or friend to come over on Christmas Eve to play Santa....Any volunteers?

I always take a picture of the Christmas Tree once it's set up with all the loot. It always amazes us how much we have and how long it took to get it all put together and wrapped.