Thursday, January 21, 2010
Anthony's 9th Bday Party
Here is a link to the photo album from Anthony's party! It was SO much fun! Who knew that an intercom system could entertain kids for almost two hours! :) It was announcing mini "shows," who was "it" in tag, and giving play by plays for the games that drew them into it. They played SO well, and the girls are all so awesome. Russ had more fun than they did just watching them play together and interact. VERY cute. The boys spent the night, and in the morning, we went for donuts and Starbucks before dropping each one at their home. :) Anthony thoroughly enjoyed his party and having his friends over. So did Russ and I!
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Holidays and such!
Yeah, I have not been on top of posting here given Facebook is so much more convenient of a way to share the latest crazy thing that Starks said or pictures that I've taken of them. BUT, I know it has been requested that I share Anthony's birthday party pictures here! So, here it goes.
Enjoy!
Our Christmas was absolutely wonderful with Russ home the entire two weeks with the boys and me. We relaxed in pjs, had our first version of Christmas Eve's 7 Fishes, enjoyed a blessed Christmas day, saw our Anthony turn 9, jumped on trampolines at Sky High three different days, and much, much more! Because Anthony's birthday is the 30th, we usually celebrate it with friends a weekend following, but we do a great celebration on the 30th as a family. This year he wanted to see the King Tut exhibit in SF and have a Ghiradelli sundae. So, we took the train up to the city, transfered to the Metro, and then finally took a bus over to Golden Gate Park. :) That alone was enough adventure. However, everything went well, and the kids loved it. Anthony enjoyed his day, and the King Tut stuff was sufficiently interesting! We left at 8:30am and got home at 9:20! LONG but Great day.
For his birthday celebration with friends, he had requested a shaving cream fight. This is the link to it on YouTube.
I will post on Picasa a web album of the party, and will follow up with a link.
Enjoy!
Sunday, December 06, 2009
Life Update
Since the last blog, we have had Halloween and Thanksgiving, and we're getting close to Christmas! :) Halloween was a blast and week long celebration. Party on the Robertson's street (see group picture) started it off, then Googleween, School Parade, and finally Trick-or-treating in our neighborhood. We were, as you can see, from Mario Bros. (Princess Daisy, Mario, Luigi, "Dry Bones" and Yoshi) I'm not the biggest fan of Halloween, but when you have kids, you kind of are forced to love it. I still refuse to decorate in things macabre. 
We flew to Oklahoma to stay with Aunt Sharmane, Daniel, Kare and Alyssa. It was awesome, as usual, despite the fact that the four of us (boys and I- Russ was in Australia) were on our way back to health. At Shar's BFF's, the boys played with her boys, shot BB guns, roped sheep and goats, played and ate "puppy chow" snacks. (If you've never had it, it's awesome! Chex, peanut butter chocolate, and powdered sugar= yum!) We swam at the YMCA a couple of times (Anthony and Chas passed the swim test to go off the diving boards and slides), ate lunch with Shar and the girls on various days, played and climbed trees in the park outside of her back yard, and had fun playing different games each night after dinner! The last day culminated in a trip to Wichita Refuge and The Holy City. We saw herds of buffalo and longhorns, climbed a boulder mountain, and enjoyed our food at Meers Burgers! We loved every day and all of our time with our family- and Paco!
For Thanksgiving, we stayed home. It was wonderful and relaxing. We had put up the tree the weekend before, so it afforded us a stress free four days together! At dinner on Thanksgiving, I realized as we laughed and listened to the boys that had we been with anyone else we would have missed out on that. I love that they are such talkers as they get older. And, I want to listen to it for as long as they'll talk. I realize that it MAY not always be the case. So, we'll soak it all in for now!
Yesterday was Starks' first practice for Basketball at the Y. Anthony and Chas did "Little Hoopsters" when they were 5 and 3.5 years respectively, and I was eager to see how Starks would do. He was really good at his skills, but about 45" into it, he was DONE with the noise. He wanted to leave, and I couldn't blame him. Maybe we'll try ear plugs next week? It was the kind of noise from 6 teams of kids playing in the same gym with their parents talking... there was never a break. :) Anyway, I wanted to post some pics of him playing
Dribble,
Pass,
Shoot,
and one with his BF, Adam,
and one of the other two at that age together. :) Enjoy!
We flew to Oklahoma to stay with Aunt Sharmane, Daniel, Kare and Alyssa. It was awesome, as usual, despite the fact that the four of us (boys and I- Russ was in Australia) were on our way back to health. At Shar's BFF's, the boys played with her boys, shot BB guns, roped sheep and goats, played and ate "puppy chow" snacks. (If you've never had it, it's awesome! Chex, peanut butter chocolate, and powdered sugar= yum!) We swam at the YMCA a couple of times (Anthony and Chas passed the swim test to go off the diving boards and slides), ate lunch with Shar and the girls on various days, played and climbed trees in the park outside of her back yard, and had fun playing different games each night after dinner! The last day culminated in a trip to Wichita Refuge and The Holy City. We saw herds of buffalo and longhorns, climbed a boulder mountain, and enjoyed our food at Meers Burgers! We loved every day and all of our time with our family- and Paco!
For Thanksgiving, we stayed home. It was wonderful and relaxing. We had put up the tree the weekend before, so it afforded us a stress free four days together! At dinner on Thanksgiving, I realized as we laughed and listened to the boys that had we been with anyone else we would have missed out on that. I love that they are such talkers as they get older. And, I want to listen to it for as long as they'll talk. I realize that it MAY not always be the case. So, we'll soak it all in for now!
Yesterday was Starks' first practice for Basketball at the Y. Anthony and Chas did "Little Hoopsters" when they were 5 and 3.5 years respectively, and I was eager to see how Starks would do. He was really good at his skills, but about 45" into it, he was DONE with the noise. He wanted to leave, and I couldn't blame him. Maybe we'll try ear plugs next week? It was the kind of noise from 6 teams of kids playing in the same gym with their parents talking... there was never a break. :) Anyway, I wanted to post some pics of him playing
Dribble,
Pass,
Shoot,
and one with his BF, Adam,
and one of the other two at that age together. :) Enjoy!
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Shew! It's been a LOOOONNNGGGG time!
Well, seeing as I can get just a few pictures and an update on Facebook pretty quickly, I've let our blog here sit on the back burner! Sorry about that all of you non-Facebookers. :) I feel like I need to give a quick update on our summer after camping at Mt. Madonna. So, here it goes!
Two weeks after that, Kare and Alyssa (the boys' cousins who were 17 and almost 13 at the time), came out to stay with us for 24 days! It was heaven. I absolutely LOVED my time alone with them, and the boys love them, too, of course. Anyway, that time was filled with lots of beaches, pool time and swim lessons,
hiking and climbing at Castle Rock,
pj days at home, Gymnastics, and another camping trip at Yuba River! I'm sure I'm missing other things, but as you can read, we were busy! It was awesome, and the best summer yet!
My sister, Aunt Sharmane, joined us for the last 9 days with the girls, so she got to camp with us at Yuba River. We had never camped there, and it was unbelievable. The river was so clear, the stars so brilliant, and the place was just awesome. We bought some suits, tubes, and life vests, and we spent all of our days jumping off rocks into the river! We'd jump in, ride the "whirlpools" and current, and then swim to the edge to get out and repeat! ALL of the boys got very bold! We even saw an awesome black water snake who stayed to watch. We will certainly camp there every year from here on out!
After they left, a few days late
r, we left on our yearly camping trip with friends. There are five families that go. That adds up to 15 boys and 2 girls from 4th grade to 4 years old! :) We always have a great time, and it seems like we enjoy and can do more each year. VERY fun! Here's a group photo of all of us being "crazy." We camped again at Mt. Madonna, and everything was easy and relaxing. The kids rode bikes, hiked, and explored.
School started a week after our family camping trip, and the boys love school! Anthony has a wonderful teacher, and Chas ended up with Anthony's teacher from last year- who is also wonderful. We could not be happier. Starks started our home school preschool this year, and he goes to "school" at one of our houses each Monday. The kids have thoroughly enjoyed their school, and it has been a blast to teach the kids I love. Amy, Rachel, Teresa and I all have our little ones at home, and this preschool fit in perfectly to our schedules and goals this year. Plus, we've also had Gymnastics twice a week after school. WOW! The boys get better and stronger each time. Anthony actually did THREE pull ups last night! Chas even does pull ups on the rings and can dismount over the side. Russ is amazed at how strong they are and notices the definition in their muscles. :)
So, that's a snapshot of summer.
Since school started, the boys have already taken days off to go
Backpacking at Lassen Volcanic Park and to have a "man" weekend in Philly to see the Eagles play their home opener. 
Both trips were with just Daddy, and they had a blast. Starks joined them to MomMom and Pop's in NJ, but he had a weekend with me in Monterey while the boys backpacked.
We stayed the night with Amy and Adam, too. As you can see jumping on the bed was a hit!
Russ, Anthony and Chas went backpacking for 3 days and 2 nights with Ryan, Jacob, Luke, Eric and Nathan. They did such an awesome job hiking with all of their gear. Russ wanted to immediately plan another trip!
Chas turned 7 in September, and he had the best party and sleepover! He planned it all. We bought everyone a Bionicle to put together, they battled with those, ate dinner (Filet, carrots, mac n cheese and salad.), had homemade Lava Cakes for dessert, sleptover, had Psycho Donuts for breakfast, and then came back home to chill. It was fun to see his friends since he was little meet his friends from school. They all loved each other! Luke even wanted to invite Chas' friend, Lucas, to HIS birthday party. :)
Well, we're heading to Oklahoma for a week in November while Russ goes to Australia. :) We were going to go with him, but he's staying for too short a time.. and we wouldn't see much of him while we were there. :( SO, we'll wait for next year! Instead, we'll hang out with Aunt Sharmane, Kare, Alyssa and Daniel! :) We are SO looking forward to it.
There are daily stories on FB on things the kids say. They are so much fun and entertaining. I love the conversations we have now. I am truly blessed!
Two weeks after that, Kare and Alyssa (the boys' cousins who were 17 and almost 13 at the time), came out to stay with us for 24 days! It was heaven. I absolutely LOVED my time alone with them, and the boys love them, too, of course. Anyway, that time was filled with lots of beaches, pool time and swim lessons,
hiking and climbing at Castle Rock,
pj days at home, Gymnastics, and another camping trip at Yuba River! I'm sure I'm missing other things, but as you can read, we were busy! It was awesome, and the best summer yet!
My sister, Aunt Sharmane, joined us for the last 9 days with the girls, so she got to camp with us at Yuba River. We had never camped there, and it was unbelievable. The river was so clear, the stars so brilliant, and the place was just awesome. We bought some suits, tubes, and life vests, and we spent all of our days jumping off rocks into the river! We'd jump in, ride the "whirlpools" and current, and then swim to the edge to get out and repeat! ALL of the boys got very bold! We even saw an awesome black water snake who stayed to watch. We will certainly camp there every year from here on out!
After they left, a few days late
r, we left on our yearly camping trip with friends. There are five families that go. That adds up to 15 boys and 2 girls from 4th grade to 4 years old! :) We always have a great time, and it seems like we enjoy and can do more each year. VERY fun! Here's a group photo of all of us being "crazy." We camped again at Mt. Madonna, and everything was easy and relaxing. The kids rode bikes, hiked, and explored.School started a week after our family camping trip, and the boys love school! Anthony has a wonderful teacher, and Chas ended up with Anthony's teacher from last year- who is also wonderful. We could not be happier. Starks started our home school preschool this year, and he goes to "school" at one of our houses each Monday. The kids have thoroughly enjoyed their school, and it has been a blast to teach the kids I love. Amy, Rachel, Teresa and I all have our little ones at home, and this preschool fit in perfectly to our schedules and goals this year. Plus, we've also had Gymnastics twice a week after school. WOW! The boys get better and stronger each time. Anthony actually did THREE pull ups last night! Chas even does pull ups on the rings and can dismount over the side. Russ is amazed at how strong they are and notices the definition in their muscles. :)
So, that's a snapshot of summer.
Since school started, the boys have already taken days off to go
Backpacking at Lassen Volcanic Park and to have a "man" weekend in Philly to see the Eagles play their home opener. 
Both trips were with just Daddy, and they had a blast. Starks joined them to MomMom and Pop's in NJ, but he had a weekend with me in Monterey while the boys backpacked.
We stayed the night with Amy and Adam, too. As you can see jumping on the bed was a hit!
Russ, Anthony and Chas went backpacking for 3 days and 2 nights with Ryan, Jacob, Luke, Eric and Nathan. They did such an awesome job hiking with all of their gear. Russ wanted to immediately plan another trip!
Chas turned 7 in September, and he had the best party and sleepover! He planned it all. We bought everyone a Bionicle to put together, they battled with those, ate dinner (Filet, carrots, mac n cheese and salad.), had homemade Lava Cakes for dessert, sleptover, had Psycho Donuts for breakfast, and then came back home to chill. It was fun to see his friends since he was little meet his friends from school. They all loved each other! Luke even wanted to invite Chas' friend, Lucas, to HIS birthday party. :)
Well, we're heading to Oklahoma for a week in November while Russ goes to Australia. :) We were going to go with him, but he's staying for too short a time.. and we wouldn't see much of him while we were there. :( SO, we'll wait for next year! Instead, we'll hang out with Aunt Sharmane, Kare, Alyssa and Daniel! :) We are SO looking forward to it.
There are daily stories on FB on things the kids say. They are so much fun and entertaining. I love the conversations we have now. I am truly blessed!
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Camping at Mt. Madonna
Starks being goofy! "Oh, Momma... can I have a drink from my sippy cup?" That's what he's saying, and for some reason, it was really funny at the time. 
Click our tent below to see the web album.
Click our tent below to see the web album.
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