Kyle moves up and Savannah as a Frankenstein flowergirl!

Kyle and his patrol (The Blazing Arrows!) all get a second class award for earning their next level. They worked hard to achieve all of their goals and will continue and hopefully move up at the next Court of Honor.
Way to go Boys!!!!
Notice Kyle is wearing shorts.....just like his dad! It is rare to catch either of them wearing pants. Also noticed that we really need to make a trip to the boy scout store to pick up a sash!!
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Savannah is going to be a flowergirl in our friends Alison and Brad's wedding at the end of June. She is the only one so we have been looking for a dress for her. Alison wanted us to order one soon so we will have it in time but had not found anything she really liked. It needed to be Ivory and the rest of the dresses are Taffeta so it kinda limited the choices. Savannah and I took Grandma dress shopping and then took some pictures to send to Alison who lives in Colorado.

Not sure what she is doing with her arms but I call it Frankenstein Flowergirl!
Here is another choice....longer and she loved twirling in it! There were other little girls in the store so our model was happy to come out and show the other girls how it's done....no Frankenstein flowergirl this time!
This was a Bow Peep style dress that we tried on for fun. She is holding her belly because it laced up the back so you had to unlace it to try it on and then cinch it back up. This dress also had a little bolero jacket and was full of tulle to make it stand out.

Alison looked at the pictures and found some new dresses so none of these were selected. I am going to order some new dresses and maybe we will have another model preview! We are also going to start practicing walking down the hallway dropping flower petals.

We had a very busy Saturday with Swimming lessons, Gymboree class, a birthday party and a First Communion. Yep, all in one day so I left the camera at home and just had a good time.

On Sunday we slept in until 8:30- WOW!! That is really late for us and then just played a bit and went shopping. The boys needed new shoes and other stuff. Savannah checked out the doggies at PetSmart. She loves to watch them get groomed. They are behind glass so that is perfect for her. I think she could spend the whole day there watching them. We also went to the Pet hotel but they were having puppy training classes so too boring to watch for long, she prefers when they just run and jump around!

Ended off the weekend with the kids swimming in Grandma and Papa's pool. First time this season for Savannah. Clark BBQ'd and Grandma cooked up the rest of the yummy goodness. So nice to be able to eat outside once again. Love the weather and can't wait for more of it.

Haru Matsuri in Morgan Hill

Kyle ready to open the show with his Taiko group. He has now been practicing for one year with the Morgan Hill Group and enjoys it a ton! Clark is able to catch up on phone calls or read his book while he waits at practice.
Very intense and probably trying really hard to not screw up!!!!!
The stick battle. I think this is a good weapon of choice for Kyle for now! Some of the other weapons look more dangerous and will take more practice.
Here Kyle and Quin step up to help the Cedar Grove group. They came off the stage and jumped back on again to help out. Most of the kids here are first year students and in fourth grade.

We had a fun time at the Haru Matsuri in Morgan Hill on Sunday. We dropped Kyle off early at the Dojo and then went to help set up the booth for the groups to sell some of their products. The Parga family came to watch Kyle and it was nice to catch up with them and see how much the kids have grown. Savannah's friend Gwendolyn brought her parents Chandler and Wendy and they were enjoying the music and the food. Grandma was also able to catch up with her friends Ralph and Christine Chellino who live in Morgan Hill and decided to come check out the event.

After the event we decided to go have some linner (lunch/dinner) at Sweet Tomatoes. Kyle and I went up to get some dessert and while we were gone Savannah threw up all that she had eaten so far! Kinda funny but gross to clean up! Once she was cleaned up, she moved to another table with Grandma and polished off her dessert. Not something that a grown person could do but man a 2 year old stomach needs to be filled back up! We got her naked in the parking lot and into new clothes for the ride home. Nap time for all of us after that and once again a weekend was complete and GONE!

On to the Trains and Jelly Belly Factory!

The California Railroad museum is wonderful. Kyle and I had visited before on the 4th grade Sacramento trip but as many 4th grade boys will do we RAN thru the museum so they could get to the gift shop! Clark was able to walk thru and read all the information posted about the trains and how the railroads connected the West to the East. It is done wonderfully and worth the $8 admission price!
When you are 2, you can only take so much train stuff and looking at stuff before you need to let loose and play! They have a Thomas the train area for the little kids and Savannah happily played here for over an hour. Yes, they have benches for the moms and I was able to chat with a few who live in the area and said they usually come on rainy days and stay a little while and let the kids look around and play.
After a couple of hours at the Train Museum we walked thru the rest of Old Town and ran into Mrs. Malmin! Nice to see her and catch up a bit. We were ready to leave or else we would have went and had lunch with her. Still pretty full from breakfast ( Yah free breakfast buffet!) we decided to wait until we got to Jelly Belly. It was about 45 minutes away and a nice drive down Highway 80. Drove past Vacaville and that looks like it could be a fun place to check out with the Nut Tree and Outlets. Savannah was very excited to see this GIANT Jelly Belly Man!
Beans, Beans, everywhere!!!! We went on the 40-45 minute tour and saw how beans were being made. The workers helped us out and waved to Savannah! She was very interested in all the colors and said the pink ones were her favorites. Big surprise there!
After the tour we went to the cafe and had some lunch. Savannah had the standby of grilled cheese, Clark had a chicken sandwich was he deemed okay and I scored and had a jelly belly shaped cheeseburger. Mine was yummy and they had a nice toppings bar to fill it up. We looked around at the case sale (bargains on Valentine and Easter candy!) and then decided to buy some Jelly Belly flops and Hodge Podge bags. On the way out Savannah spun the wheel at the Bean Boozled display and she had to tell if the light blue colored bean she tasted was Toothpaste or Berry. She said it was minty so we are guessing she got the toothpaste flavor. Clark and I both skipped this since we were sure to get moldy cheese or skunk flavor!!! It was late in the day and we did not think we had enough time to go to Budweiser for their factory tour so onward home!

It was a nice trip and nice to get away to such a close place. Not too much driving and took things at a slower pace and enjoyed our hotel! It certainly wasn't Vegas or Disneyland but a fun time!

Happy 40th Birthday Clark!!!!!

Here we are at Old Town Sacramento. We were walking around and checking out the trains. Savannah loved this train and wanted to get on it and ride right away. Daddy joined her and they pretended they were on a fun adventure.











Clark poses at Joe's Crab Shack with the 40 Coors Light sign!!!! Glad my own 40 year old eyes caught it in the background! He did not indulge in any alcohol here but we had a good time. We tried the appetizer sampler and enjoyed the crab dip, popcorn shrimp and fire balls! Clark loved the fire balls the most and I was lucky to swipe one quickly! Savannah loved the chips that came with the crap dip and her chicken strips came out pretty quickly. We also ordered her some rice and she loved it. Then again, we can order this at most places and she will be fine with that and love it!




Clark grubs down on his shrimp fiesta platter.....no that was not what it was called but thinking this was like Red Lobster he added a $4.99 platter of Coconut shrimp too. Hey, it's your birthday go for it! Clark actually said he was FULL when he was done but after the waiters put on their show we still went ahead and ordered dessert. Savannah got a very cool ice cream sandwich on an artist plate and she was oh so in heaven to decorate her whipped cream and ice cream creation with plenty of sprinkles and baby m & m's! Clark went for the banana's foster and after one bite I was done and he was determined to clean off his plate.

We rolled out of the place with a new T-shirt for Kyle (see we are not the worst parents on the planet-we did think of him!) We walked back towards the hotel and decided to walk along the river! It was a wonderful walk and at one point we were able to walk down some ramps and be right on the river. Clark took a phone call from his dad and Savannah and I enjoyed looking at the ducks and the huge amount of cotton like stuff that was falling off the trees and looked like snow along the river. It was a wonderful night-warm and sunny!!!! We could hear the baseball stadium in the distance but decided to go back to the hotel and take a swim.

On the way back in we saw that the free drinks area was open and what the heck we could have a little drink and then go swimming. Gotta love the Embassey for the free drinks and breakfast alone!!!! The suite with extra room is awesome too. Two t.v.'s is nice too! Gee can you tell I try to look for one whenever we travel?!
Savannah had a Shirley Temple with 4 cherries, Clark had a couple of Landshark beers. It is the Jimmy Buffet/Margarittaville beer and he enjoyed it. I took a swallow and it was not a bad beer......which says a lot coming from me. Personally, I went for a margarita which my daughter felt I should share with her since it had cool limes in it! Cheers!!!!!!


We went up to the room and decided to watch Survivor and then go swim. Watched a little bit and then looked for CBS. When we found it, it was tribal council time and all we saw was Ozzy getting voted off by the girls. Now the game is going to get interesting. Down to the pool we went and Daddy and daughter had a good time swimming and splashing the night away!

The Horrible NO Good Very Bad Day

Hello blog again!!!!!



It's been a while but we will catch up quickly......last week I get an email from Kyle's teacher asking us to come into a conference! I forward the email with the quote of Your son is in SOOO MUCH Trouble!!!! or something like that. (It was worse but I do not want to go to jail! haha!) I know Clark is having a BBQ at work and probably not checking his email so I call him on the cell. Check with him that yes he can stay home in the morning and go to school with me at 7:30. Nothing like learning your kid is doing awful in 2 subjects and has been lying to you!!! This is the part that bothers me the most....lying is not acceptable. If you screw up I feel you should own up to it and admit it and then move on.

This pretty much puts me in a bad mood. We are supposed to go out of town to celebrate Clark's 40th birthday and now what to do.....cancel our plans?, go without Kyle? who stays home?

We talk and it pretty much puts me behind in my work and I have plenty of time to think about it while getting my haircut and then talking to my mom and Clark. We decide that my mom will stay home and make Kyle go to school but we will continue on with our plans. It is a priviledge not a right to get to miss school and have family fun! Come home and pick up the kids. Wait about an hour and Kyle comes to me and admits he lied and is upset that Grandma has to stay home and miss out on the fun. Told him it's his fault and not much we can do about it at this point. He said he is ruining his dad's b-day celebration and I pretty much agree with him. The Little Miss knows that we are upset and that everyone is pretty much on edge so she does a pretty good whiney act!

Clark finally gets home late and goes to talk to Kyle and tells him what I told him and expresses how disappointed he is that Kyle is lying and will miss out on his b-day trip. Final straw was for me to make dinner for myself at 8:30.....going to have a little salad and pull out the grape tomatoes.....yep, they spill ALL OVER THE FLOOR!!!!! I was so mad but then laughed and went and got the camera. Yep, one pictures of spilled grape tomatoes all over my kitchen floor will remind me of the horrible, no good, very bad day that I was having and remind me that this too is a parenting challenge that we will make it thru!!!

We have the conference the next morning and learn quite a bit about the lying and the three adults who control Kyle's time have come up with a plan for him to make his goals and have his only focus being on school! We will be at Open House next week to find out if he is indeed sticking to his side of the plan.

For now just thinking of the grape tomatoes makes me laugh.....it could have been worse-they could have all broke in half and splattered!!!!

Savannah Swim Class

Savannah is monkey walking into the class. She loves to do this so we only let her do it on the way in and the way out. It's Daddy's turn again so I can take some pictures and stay dry! I'm sure boy scouts will cause me to get back in the water at least one time in the next session!!
using the kickboard to get somewhere
Our buddies! Rose and Marie decide to go solo with the floaters. They moved up to the next class for the next session. Savannah will follow next time I'm sure.
Having a fun time with Daddy! She will probably be a fish like Daddy and Kyle and Mommy will be happy to shop or relax on the beach!
Getting much more comfortable. Nice to have this class and get ready for the water. Our next session takes us until the end of May and by then Grandma's pool should be warm!

2 1/2 already!!!!!

Our little girl is a pro at taking pictures. My mom usually takes her in the morning, then they email them to me and I go back and order and pick up in the afternoon. These pictures all took about 20 minutes, including wardrobe change. Everyone always says she should model but I bet the first time we took her to model she would pretend to be shy and not want to do it!





This dress was bought by Grandma at EPCOT in France. We had been shopping earlier in the day and I told her I had almost bought a dress in France but was not sure if it would fit since they only had European sizes. Grandma went back and bought this dress which was the one that I would have bought! Hopefully, the weather man is right and we are moving into warm weather and can start wearing more of our summer dresses!


Love ya Savannah!!!!! We can hardly imagine life without you. You are doing so much and everyone loves how animated you are. You definately love to talk with your hands and facial expressions. You have started to watch t.v. and movies now but it is not your main focus. You will play with your kitchen and store all day and love to be outside especially to help water or plant new flowers.

You love your brother the most and love to spend time with him either watching t.v. , which is how you know Hannah Tana and Corey in the house and Zack and Cody, or you watch him play guitar hero and cheer him on! We are finishing up Gymboree class which you imitate at home for your babies or us! We are almost done with swimming lessons which have been fun but I think one more round is needed before you go off on your own in the big girl class.

Your potty training is started but you really have no interest in going on the potty full time. You prefer to use the little potty and sink at the mall or you tell us you will start on Thursday. Never seems to happen. But Mommy knows when you are ready it will be quick and painless! Just like your brother.......

You love to play with your friends and started asking to go to school which will be here before we know it and it will be hardest on Grandma to let you go!!!!!!

You always ask when we can go to Disneyland and I think it is a good thing we are 6 hours away or you and Grandma would go everyday!

Thanks for the many kisses, hugs, and "Your the best Mommy ever!" It makes my day and just have to say "You are the BEST Savannah EVER!!!"

Looking forward to what the next few months will bring us!

Love you! Mommy

How does your garden grow?

Savannah helps me water our plants.
Ta dah! This is what you look like after you water the plants and yourself!
Brother and sister give me a smile.
See how much she loves Kyle!
Okay, this is the crazy picture. I said before that Kyle was starting to do this every time I get the camera out but now the little one is copying him too! I think they are being monsters!

Today Savannah is 2 1/2 years old. She will be going to take pictures for us and we will once again be amazed at how quickly time goes by and how much she has grown.

Kyle is going on a field trip to Quimby to check out the Junior High life. Another reminder that they are both growing up!

Dove choclate sayings.....

I took a bag of Dove chocolate pieces to work to have for the random chocolate break and I have been saving the funny wrappers. Inside of each wrapper is a saying and they crack me up more then fortune cookies......here is my desk collection:

Dare to love completely. ( Okay this one is nice)

Keep the promises you make to yourself. (Like new year's resolution? I personally do not make any to break! HA!)

Naughty can be nice. (Not it you are a two year old!)

You're allowed to do nothing. (When you come to my messy house I will just shrug and tell you the chocolate told me to do nothing!)

Remember your first everything. ( This is why I started my blog.....so I can actually remember stuff.)

Smile-people will wonder what you have been up to. (You might be a stalker-see below)

Wink at someone driving past today. (sure if you want road rage or a stalker!)

You know what? You look good in red. ( How do they know what you are wearing?)

Temptation is fun...giving in is even better. ( Too bad they don't put extra chocolates in the bag for You!)

Send a love letter this week. ( okay I will try and fit that in....somewhere!)

I might just keep buying the chocolate to see what else they might tell me to do. Wonder if they change for the season or time of year?

My other funny chocolate story of the week.

Clark brought home a red velvet pouch of Ghiradelli chocolate. He got it from a customer. He called Savannah into the room and said "look I got you a purse." She said "Yah! Chocolate I will take my shirt off Daddy! "We laughed.....I know she loves chocolate but who knew she could read Ghiradelli!!! genius child!!!! and Clark said "that's pretty sad that my daughter will remove her shirt for chocolate! " This phase had better not last. We always make her take her shirt off if she is going to eat anything messy. She is beginning to hate to wear a bib, but I as a Mommy am not quite ready to wash each piece of clothing 10 times to get the stains out.

Ranch Camping....

Stephen, Josh, Seby and Kyle ready for adventure and finishing some merit badges.
Getting ready for the one mile compass hike.
Toby instructing Kyle and Seby on how to build a useful thing. These were sticks to hold up their lanterns at night.
Going on the 5 mle hike, walking sticks and water bottles were required.

The useful thing plus boys and dads that went camping. It was successful hopefully they are on their way 2nd class!!!!! Go Blazing Arrows!!!!!!!

Snow boarding or sitting on your butt in snow!

Clark and Kyle decided to go on the Troop Ski Trip for the weekend. They got up very early Saturday morning and drove to Dodge Ridge. Here they are at the snow boarding lessons they signed up for. Kyle thinks he wants to try skiing next time! Clark and Kyle spent quite a bit of time crashing. Clark did not wear a helmet because his Frankenstein head was too big for any they had!
Clark swears he is going down a hill......looks pretty flat to me!
WOW!!! Kyle is up and attempting to go down the hill. GO KYLE!!!
Notice this is in the Lodge. I think they might have spent a lot of time here. I also notice that most of my Kyle pictures are going to have goofy faces on them now. He prefers this look to normal smiling!
Kyle digging a snow cave at the cabins they stayed at. Their group was in charge of dinner and they had chicken, broccoli, salad, mashed potatoes, veggie burgers and more. Kyle had a really good time playing in the snow with his buddies!