Shoulder Surgery

Our week was eventful to say the least.  And yet, not a lot of pictures.  Rich had his shoulder surgery and our air conditioner broke.  At least Rich was easier to repair. 

Just a little bandaging. 

No, not this shoulder!

"Ortho art"  all the purple in the front is also from the art.

First Real Snow

Growing up  in Southern CA, I had only visited places where snow had fallen.  It wasn't fresh and untouched.  I had no idea.  I knew it was cold.  And it was fun to sled down a hill.  But I had no idea what it was really like until I moved to VA.  Our first winter there, was a doozy!  2 feet of snow in a span of about 6 days.  For me and that area, that was a lot of snow!

Feb. 2003

It was really neat...the first time.

Surgery Sucks

Rich had to have shoulder surgery today.  The good news:  they reattached the muscle to the bone.  Got rid of the bone spur that was there.  Discovered that the rotators cuff was in tact and his shoulder joint is that of an 18 year old!!!!  The bad news...well....
Surgery SUCKS!

Kindergarten Rocks!

Remember the book box Ryan made?  Well on Friday he brought home his first three books!  And happily "read" them all.  I know at this point, it is memorization, but I also know that is the start.  He is very excited about school.  And I am glad.  I am still getting used to his absence.  It feels weird not to see his little blond head running through the house.

Two Angels

In my church our children are baptized when they turn eight years old.  Here are my sweet little angels on their baptism days...

Kristin enters the water with Daddy.  October 8th, 2005

Emily after her baptism July 5th, 2008

Walking

Since Ryan has afternoon kindergarten we walk to school.  It's less than a mile and it is good for me and him.  We talk along the way and look for lizards. 

The box he is holding is his "book box."  They will be making books through out the year and this is where they will keep them.

Waiting for the gate to open.  On early release days the PM kids come 30 minutes earlier.

Go Vote!

Kristin has entered a contest with Disney.  It is called "U Rock"  What you do is make a 30 second video singing with your favorite music....since the contest is to meet and see the Jonas Brothers, she picked a song of theirs.  Go and check it out right here  Then vote and leave some comment love for my girl!

What a Week!

Last week was an eventful week to say the least!  School was starting and I had to scramble to get Ryan all set for KINDERGARTEN!?  He really likes it so far, but kindergarten can be exhausting.

 This happened more than once!

Before school started, not only did I have to deal with doctors, labs, shots and teaching my 4 year old to pee in a cup, I also promised Kristin a haircut.  Emily decided she didn't need one.  Which, really she didn't.  So, good for her!

 She wanted a whole new look...

 I like it!

So this past weekend, we went in to Old Town to the Farmer's Market.  I thought I would be so smart and bring my camera.  Because you just never know!  Well a fat load of good it did me sitting in the car!  Oh well, that is what phones are for.

  Fonzie the Pony.  Ryan wanted NOTHING to do with him.  Kristin on the other hand, was happy to pet and talk to him.  Emily petted him a little but otherwise kept a safe distance.

 We visited cousin Nicole who works in Old Town.  Here she is at the boutique she manages taking care of the boss's dog.  Multi-tasking!

Then and Now

Kristin and Emily on the first day of school in 2005.  Emily was in Kindergarten and Kristin was in the 3rd grade.  Ryan was....still baking at a cozy 98.6*

That was then....

And this is now!  Kristin enters the 8th grade, Emily 5th and Ryan starts Kindergarten!

It just doesn't seem possible!!

Site Seeing

We went a lot of different places over the summer.  We went to the beach, Idllywild, and Indio.  Along the way I saw things that I found interesting and took pictures.  This time on the way home from Indio, which really has a whole lot of nothing, I still managed to take a few pictures.

Trees that look like the victims of a fire

Windmills...there were countless many.  To tour them was $30 a piece.

 

A train for Ryan...he was asleep at the time and missed it.

A Resort

This past weekend, we were invited by Emmy and her family to come and stay with them at their time share.  A weekend filled with swimming, fun and laughs.  

Miss Alex playing hide and seek with the kids.

Aside from swimming, holding Ryder was her favorite activity.

Ryan blows bubbles like Daddy taught him.

Taking a break from all that swimming.  She is a dolphin!

Silly boy

View from our balcony.

We wore ourselves out swimming!  It was a lot of fun.

1 Down

2 Down

and 3 fought the good fight.

Leaf Piles

Virginia 2004

One of the girls' favorite fall pass times was making leaf piles--before the land scapers came and took them all away--and jumping into them.  One day I had about ten kids in my yard.  

In CA we don't have quite as many trees with leaves that fall...in the fall.  But we are fortunate enough to have one in our own front yard.

The kids can jump in the leaves when they fall...until the land scapers take them away. 

Elbow Grease

With a pool looking like this....

You just need one of these

And a little bit of elbow grease

 Then sit back and watch a little one play

 Getting water for "The Littlest Petshop Pool"

 Those petshops have got it good!

 

Idyllwild

This past week we went to Idllywild.  Rich had jury duty so he couldn't go.  Having never been we had no idea or plan of what to expect and do.  Iddlywild, it turns out is actually quite large and would require a plan and possibly a few days of stay to get through it all.

The first thing we did when we got there was eat.

Once our bellies were full, it was time to guess figure out what we would do next.

picture taking is a good time waster.  

My niece was able to come with us.  That was a treat.

This little gal was standing tall and proud by herself.

Ryan wasn't willing to sit on the tree stump, but he could "totally" stand on it.

Ryan liked this art picture.  

There was a store called "The World Store" and in that store, everything came from within the earth.  Things like these lovely geodes.

 The kids formed "The Stick Band"

 

For whatever reason, I was totally amused by this pint sized fire hydrant.  I think it is made special for pint sized dogs.

On our way up the mountain, we saw a most interesting tree.  It was dead for one thing.  But it looked like a bird or something....okay a great big pre historic bird, but a bird.  I took two pictures on our way back down the mountain.  I liked them both, and then did some tweaking.  I am not sure

 which I like better so I will post both.