Family of 5

This picture above is our only (therefore, first!) family picture we have of the five of us. Perhaps by Christmas, we'll have another but for now, this is my cherished photo:-) We went out to dinner on Saturday night for a pre-Mother's Day meal instead of fighting the crowds on Sunday. The older two children did fine but Dan ended up pacing around with Elliott for a good part of the time- he likes to keep moving! Sunday was a relaxing day with another empowering sermon from one of our pastors. Although I dearly miss our old church, our new church home has had a spiritual banquet of lessons for us to learn.

 Russell now knows that we will let him order whatever he wants when we go to a restaurant (his palate is limited, so I know it won't be steak for a few more years!) and he was heartbroken that he couldn't order the chocolate chip pancakes (he's learning to read, hence reading menus as well) but we insisted that he order something else since it was 6pm by this time- and we'd be back another weekend for the pancakes.

Dining with Littles isn't easy since we don't want other couples' dining experiences to be miserable but Camille did great... and in a few year, Elliott will as well. Until then, we'll keep McD's on our 'restaurant' list;-)

A Day at a City Farm

Russell's kinder class had the last of their three field trips for the year this past Thursday. They went to Prusch Farms in San Jose. In the past, I'm sure the farm was massive with several hundred acres but now it's probably no more than ten acres, situated under a major freeway interchange. (Welcome to California living!) The farm has the requisite animals; chickens and roosters, pot-belly pigs, ducks and geese, rabbits, a few head of cows, and one massive turkey- who is quite smart and lives on top of the rabbit coop where hundreds of children's hands can not reach him. 

The day we went there were a lot of schools there, ours having 100 kinder's alone. It was important to Russell that we joined him on his special day as I have not been able to help out in his class as other parents have, just due to the fact of Camille and Elliott being a distraction (at best). Russell gave us a smile at first but mostly just ignored us;-) He said later he was glad we came, so that's all that matters.

 The best picture of all: Russell and his three classmates joined with Camille and another preschool aged friend from down the street. Happy times!! Three weeks left of school, then summer break, then first grade!

Last weekend (4/22/12) we celebrated Camille's 2 1/2 birthday with grilled Martha Stewart's Chicken Souvlaki (yum!!) and fudgy chocolate cake, and with friends from down the street. It was a taste of summer and good times to come... 

Three Months Old

Happy three months to our "Little Bear."  He likes to lay in the bouncy seat and just ramble/talk to himself. He lights up like a lightbulb when either Camille or Russell come to entertain him, and he kicks his feet like he imagines himself running around after Big Bro and Sis. He's a happy little fellow when he decides that all is well and life is good!

Photo Drop

Before another month passes, I wanted to offload a few pictures. Above are my boys... Russell in March '06 and Elliott in March '12. I can see their facial differences starting to develop but they still both have the chunky cheeks! (Yes, the same batch of washclothes, six years later. Money well spent;-)



 The morning sun in the living room seems the best to capture the true colors of the kids...



 And a quick moment on my bed where no-one was getting smooshed...

 ... and the smooshing begins.

This school year has flown past. Russell has two months left of kindergartan and then summer break begins. We'll continue his swim lessons throughout the summer and we hope to drive north to B.C. in June, but otherwise, a quiet summer. This summer will be more fun for the children as they now have friends in the neighbourhood in addition to friends on the Peninsula. One mom and I are planning on kid-swapping each week to give the other mom a morning to herself.

Hope to post more next week with the Easter pix!

A few pictures...

 My two sweet boys...

... and Camille...

The only picture I have to date of me and my munchkins... 

... and Grandma and Papa visiting for ten days last week...

... and our brand new six year old!

I don't know if we've had a break from coughs and colds since early December but we still have managed to do a few fun things (minus missing MOPS and Sundays at church:-( Elliott was born on the 17th and my parents came into town on the 27th. It was nice to have them here and to have the extra set of hands I wish I had on a daily basis. We went out for Russell's 6th birthday (the 31st) at a local restaurant (yeah- kids eat free night!) and then on February 4th, celebrated with family friends and school friends- bouncy house at the mall included.

I hope we don't limp along with colds and coughs until spring (seven weeks and counting!) but if the other children in Russell's K class are an indication, it could be a while yet before all of us go to church together... and we don't regret it by Tuesday (the traditional day when kids get sick from germs at church. Grr.).

Photo Op.

It's difficult to be the third child when Big Sister still loves to be the gal in the camera lens! (I'm trying to get infant pictures before Elliott turns into a six-month old! and hopefully a birth announcement... hopefully.)