Giants vs. Padres

The IWFC had a group outing to the San Francisco Giants vs. the San Diego Padres this week and it was such a blast! In the first inning--6 runs were scored! By the 4th--two bats had already been broken! It was crazy--there were several balls flying into our grass seats as well. We had a great time and were so glad that we all decided to go. We left around the 7th inning and headed to Costco to cool off!


But before we left Xander's curiosity got the best of him and while we were checking out the fire engine the fireman came and gave Xander a 'proper' hat and put him in the fire truck! Talk about a happy little boy! Everything is now on fire and we have a budding fire man on our hands. My favorite though is clean up time: the toys are the fire and in order to put them out--he has to put them away. It works great! Whatever it takes right??

Success Is...

Success is when we were at a potluck dinner last night--Xander was standing on a chair outside and fell down. He jumped up and declared, "That's why we don't stand on chairs!"

He is just so bright!!

Glendale Folk & Heritage Festival

Another festival this weekend in Glendale! Actually, there were 2 and we had to choose. We really enjoyed this one, so we're glad we went. It was the Glendale Folk & Heritage Festival--and it was really calm and relaxing! We just enjoyed some games for the kids and lots of Folk music. It was also fun to watch the blacksmiths and the ponies. We picked some new grapefruit on our way to the car and stopped for a special treat at Lennys! I just love that place: 50 cent ice cream cones, 99 cent root beer floats, and hamburgers made just the way you like them--mmmm, mmm, good!! Enjoy the clips of music/Eliza dancing & Xander attempting to jump rope!!

14 months going on 3

This is our crazy little Eliza! She is quite the avid climber. And on top of that--she and Xander are in constant competition right now! So, if he rides the bike, she has to. If she gets thrown in the air or tickled--he has to be. It's crazy. Her favorite place to sneak up on is Xander's bed though with his pillows and blankets. It is because of this that we took down the guard rail that we had up--normally it (the guard rail) would be a good thing, right? Well, not here. You see, Eliza saw Xander climb up and OVER the rail and she thought she could do it too. I found her yesterday hanging from the top of it...Gotta love the excitement!

I'm so Excited!

I randomly picked up this novel while at the library last week, "Murder in the Rue de Paradis." And all I can say is WOW! I'm always a little hesitant to pick up books that I've never heard of but I'm so excited that this was not her first novel--but her 7th of 8! If you like mystery's and political plots--you'll love it! And best of all--it was clean! No language or unnecessary romance! Cara Black is truly an amazing writer! I already have the 1st of the series on hold at the library!!!

Take me out to the Ball Game!

It's that time again--BASEBALL SPRING TRAINING! We didn't make it last year to any games but Ben & Xander went with Nathan & Kaleb to the A's vs. Giants game this weekend and had a blast. I told Xander he had to go because it was U week and so he needed to go and see an umpire. The boys all took picnics to enjoy at the park and enjoyed a snow cone & lemonade on top of that. The mom's stayed home with the little guys (Eliza & Jonah) and so it was just the big boys who got to go. Here's a conversation I had with Xander about the game:

Me: "Xander, what did you like about the baseball game?"
Xander: "There's an Umpire for U week"
Me: "What did they do at the BB game?"
Xander: "they brought their bats and we brought our gloves"
Me: "What did you do with the glove?"
Xander: "I only tried to get the baseball:
Me: "Did you get one?"
Xander: "No"
Me: "What was your favorite part of the game"
Xander: "When they hit the ball."

Fun times!!

Harmonicas

It just cracks us up that our kids love playing the harmonica! But they really do. Enjoy this short clip of them--of course, it is much more fun when they are dancing and wearing cowboy hats but we couldn't get them to do that while we were video taping. Don't mind the fall (if you make it to the end)--Daddy thought it was too funny!

It's Official

Yes, it is. Blurb now does Blog to Book with Blogger again...Happy Book making!!

Rock Climbing!

I just LOVE working with the Young Women! And I am so grateful for Becky who took my kiddos so I could join in on the fun this week and go climbing with the fantastic girls here! We had a blast--and I remembered again how much I love climbing! Ahhh!!!!

Good-Byes

This is for my husband...I'm saying good-bye to these long time friends. Each of these eye shadow compacts were bought for different occasions in high school--proms or whatever. It drives Ben nuts! So, I went and bought new make-up!! :) We'll see how it goes--I will definitely miss these as I go about finding all the colors I like to wear at random times. But, Ben--I did it for Y-O-U!

World Fest 2009

We had a great time at the Phoenix Sister Cities World Fest! Phoenix has 9 different sister cities: Calagry, Canada; Catania, Italy; Chengdu, China; Ennis, Ireland; Grenoble, France; Hermosilla, Mexico; Himeji, Japan; Taipei, Taiwan; and, Ramat-Gan, Israel. To celebrate these cultures--the city hosted a festival and each country had a booth with information and a kids activity. Xander & Eliza both got their first passport and stamps to fill it! They had their names written in Mandarin (the yellow one), Gaelic, and Japanese (well, Eliza did). They got to get tattoos, dress up in Renaissance, be artists, play soccer and all sorts of fun things! The last booth was a disabilities awareness booth--Xander was a champ on the wheelchair course. One gentleman was pretty impressed but I assured him that Xander had practice. I did not tell him that Xander prefers the motorized Amigo version. :) Anyways, we had a lovely afternoon of free activities!

Origami Hinamatsuri Dolls

In celebration of Girls Day in Japan (March 3rd) the IWFC held a craft night and our Japanese friends taught us about Hinamatsuri dolls~ and then we made them!! These ones are the Emporer and Emporess. The celebration is for young girls-the boys day is in April (I think?). But girls collect the Hinamatsuri dolls and they are decorated very beautifully. Tradition has it though that if you continue to decorate your doll after March 3rd the girl who you gave it to will not get married. (Did I get that right Kaoru?)

Anyways, we had a blast-we folded, we ate and we listened to a Japanese song. Mari made the heads for us--the only part that I did there was the eyes and smile. :) I just love this part of Ben's education--I love learning more about other cultures and traditions! I did kept the directions and am posting them. If you're having a daughter any time or have a young daughter you might want to make some--just stop decorating them on March 3!!

Sword Fighting

I never thought I'd allow sword fighting in my home but alas I do. We have very strict rules about, etc, etc, etc. But that's not what this post is about. So, we just passed 'S' week and so we were doing ALOT of sword fighting (Xander was very proud when he'd say, "Mom, it's S week we need to play swords!). And well, Eliza picked up on something new. She's been prone to pick up a sword when Xander does but the other day she was watching Ben & Xander keel over after getting 'hit'. Then she realized they gave each other kisses. Well, that's all she needed. She grabbed her sword and as soon as she got jabbed she fell to the floor and pretended to 'die'. It was hilarious! She did it over and over. I tried to grab the camera but by the time I got to it she was being too silly. But at least you can get the idea!! She's quite the budding thespian...

Best Friends

We're so glad that the Kachers are back! Riley is so much fun--not a day goes by that Eliza doesn't start asking for Riley (I-E??)! They really do get a long great too--it is so nice! Hurry home from Minnesota Riley!!