Blood Bank?

 A couple weeks ago I scored a bunch of strawberries.  Having strawberry freezer jam at my brothers house one time I fell in love.  It was sooo good and I've always wanted to make it.  Finding time to go strawberry picking has never really worked out.  I managed to "pick" my strawberries from a bag and that was good for me.  There were 3 tubs of berries but I didn't think to document this occasion until I had already started.  It was super easy to make (so easy I had to call my sis-in-law to make sure I wasn't forgetting something!)  I have yet to try it but several bags have been taken and sampled and the outcome was a success.

When the boys saw what I was doing they asked "Is that blood?"  Boys.  Though it was fun to play along for a moment. 

Polynesian Dancing

 On Saturday the boys and I went to see some Polynesian dancing. The boys loved it!  They of course loved the guy dances and their eyes were glued to the stage the whole time.  Sitting in front of us were a group of guys and one was from Samoa and he kept screaming their "Samoan yell" and every time my boys would laugh and a huge smile came on their face. It was a fun evening (minus the 20 minute wait at the drive thru for milkshakes that I promised the boys if they were good!  Poor Anthony fell asleep waiting and never got one.)  I figure this will be the closest that I'll ever get to actually going to the islands to see dancing.

This was the Haka dance--a fan favorite.

 I love the face of the guy on the right. 

 He was great.

This dance was cool.

They turned off the lights and their batons glowed.  

It reminded the boys of a light show that someone at church did that was spectacular.

This one was the best.  

The Slap dance.  

Spring Break 2012

I took the boys on a little vacation for spring break. We had a good time and look forward to doing it again next year.

We visited a reptile/animal zoo.

Played at the arcade.

Played in the pool everyday (all day if Anthony had his way!)

Played basketball

The boys immediately thought of Grandpa!

Went hiking

Boys were in heaven at this little place in the woods

Good-bye Dear Friend

There was a tragedy over our Christmas break and that was the loss of Diego's iguana Yoda. A couple days after Christmas I awoke to the screaming of Diego and the crying of Christian and Anthony. Diego ran into my room holding a limp Yoda and was sobbing. Christian kept saying, "It was an accident!" Anthony I don't think really knew why he was crying but since the other two were he was going to. The boys had been in the basement playing the Wii and Yoda had been on a blanket that was wrapped around Diego. Unknown to Diego, Yoda jumped onto the carpet and during the playing of the Wii, Christian knelt down right on top of Yoda. I'm pretty sure it was quick. Diego was devastated but he understood it was an accident and wasn't blaming/yelling at Christian. He tried to give Yoda water and even pump his little stomach but he was already gone. We wrapped him in tissue paper and out to the trash he went. Diego had a few rough nights after that and a hard day at school when they had to write about their break and then share with the class (which he wouldn't have written about if he had known he was gonna have to share in front of everyone!) That was hard for him. But I'm proud of the way he has handled the whole situation. He adored Yoda. Every morning he'd wake up and go get him out of the cage and play with him before school and as soon as Diego got home he'd get him out again. Yoda is surely missed!

Fall Through The Years

Looking back through old Fall pics from when we've visited the pumpkin patch made me smile and laugh. It was fun to see how the boys have grown and just how different they look.

2004

2005

2006

2007

2010

2011

Trick or Treat!

Anthony--The Referee

Christian--the girl (aka Christina)

Diego--the phone

Diego's Where??

He is in the bull pen warming up because he is pitching the last inning!!

With only 2 games left of the season Diego showed an interest in pitching. He showed his coach before his game last night and the coach asked him where he'd been the first few weeks of the games. He told him he'd let him pitch a few if the opportunity came. And today it did!! He has only practiced his pitching only twice. He was nervous but his teammate who warmed up with him kept encouraging him. His first pitch was a strike!! His first time pitching he had 2 strikeouts and a forced out at home. He did great!! I was so proud that he took the initiative and asked his coach if he could try. He received a game ball at the end. Way to go Diego!! All these pics were taken with my cell phone cuz I forgot the camera when I put it down to search for Yoda (the iguana) who got away from Diego this morning. So in the mess of looking for him and getting the other boys ready for their games I forgot to get pick the camera bag back up. I was killing myself the whole time. Hopefully he will get to pitch the next game and I'll get that on video!! As of this moment Yoda is still missing in the house!!