Back to School 2010

Off to 2-day program....I know they can't be any cuter. I will miss them.


Matt's new desk. Mr. Chun's class rule : "Do the Right Thing"




Starbucks lunch bag, sitting at all boys table, across from new friend Matthew...she is rolling with it.

harvard or yale?

Mommy : "So honey, what university would you choose, Harvard or Yale?"

Bria: "Harvard."

Mommy: "Why is that?"

Bria: "Yale sounds like a fish."

I Heart Saturday AND....kids with kites

Two of my favorite images of kids are when they are painting/coloring and when they are flying a kite.

Matt loves to fly kites.

and you cannot get a better view

more matt madness

really just a bunch of pictures from our few days of February fun celebrating Matt.... big brother's gifts always come with lots of layers....

and another...

last one...

well worth it!

somehow when the kids opt for no birthday party...

what was once thought to be a cost effective plan...

becomes kinda costly...

bring on the dragon sushi

add a little Sherlock Holmes...

a quick meet up with Mam and Pap....

for even more...

he loves golf balls...

especially when the box is loaded with some cash...

as always... - it was FUN celebrating YOU my boy!!

field trip...what is that?

Some of our best memories as a home school family are going on field trips. If we don't take advantage of getting out behind the desk (kitchen table) every now and then I think we miss out on great learning experiences, SEEING what we are reading about and just re-enforcing that learning is fun and is all over life!

Well, with one in highschool on a traditional schedule, offering me less flexibility, my 3rd and 5th grader have been a little cheated.

I am going to play some catch up with Matt and Bria over this last quarter and get out more. We plan a Legoland day, Balboa Park day, a visit to the Inland Valley symphony and Huntington Library...'cause those are just a few of my favorite places :)

A few weeks ago we took off to Forest Lawn in Glendale. My first visit and I never knew that the "builders creed" for this memorial includes the idea of bringing the beauty of our historic world to the lawn. The mosoleum has replications of several Michalangelo sculptures and Leonardo's Last Suppper on stained glass. Our visit included a show featuring the two artists in costume talking about their lives in Italy and what was going on when creating their most famous works of art. Well worth the trip. It is an excellent presentation they do throughout the year.

After meeting Da Vinci in real life, I gave Matt a little kit and he was able to build the artists version of the flying machine.

Since we were in the LA area we took the chance to eat at the German deli Schreiners in Montrose.

Over half of Bria's sausage went home to big brother!

I Heart Saturday AND......mancala

I love it 'cause they get it out so often and play it in the early mornings or just before bed....

it's one of the few games they play where they are quiet and don't end up fighting!

the big One Six

We surprised him! He loved it.
I dig my 16 year old....

Yes, this was back in January,
but never got to posting the
pictures.

Thought I better before I put more of Matt's birthday.

See, the kids have me running in circles in life AND on my blog

my middle guy is 11 today!

I have an awesome 11 year old boy. Can't we all be middle children?

I think I would have more friends.

Something extra sweet about his temperment.

We call him the "simple man"

Most birthdays he chooses a day at Knott's that always ends in Boysenberry Pie.

This year...

he simply asked to see the snow.

We got nervous about the wind and possible need for chains.

We owe him a day.


Last week we took a pre-birthday trip - just the two of us.

I took him to Fresno with me for work.

Not quite Disneyland with mom but we sure had a great time.

He got a new DS game, a great lunch and Starbucks 2 times!

We had lots and lots of laughs and listened to Hobbit on CD and some great music.



12 hours alone with one of your kids is a wonderful gift.

Happy Birthday Matt!

I.O.U. a SNOW DAY!!

I Heart Saturday AND....ratatouille

We love the movie Ratatouille!

Matt has been bugging me to make it for months!

We found the real recipe used in the movie, a Thomas Keller recipe, and went for it! It was so yummy. Crazy good flavors.

I think the kids were all disappointed that it was literally ALL vegies.

but fun to assemble and they ate it anyway ;)

I Heart Saturday AND......bria's cooking club

This girl loves to work in the kitchen. But, more than that, she really loves being with friends.

She has been reading a book series from the library about a 3rd grade girl that has a cooking club. We had our first club meeting today and since it was Valentine weekend, we made lovely cake balls.

The recipe we used was from Bakerella

We made them with white chocolate and added pink and red heart sprinkles.

It was fun and the girls cannot wait until the next one!