2007 -- NYC

June 27, 2007

Diane and I took the kids to New York City for summer vacation in June 2007. This was the kids first plane ride and they loved it. I was more worried about it than they were. On the return flight we hit a bit of turbulence and I turned to Caleb and was explaining to him what was going on and he said "I know! I've been on a plane before!". Ok Mr. "This is my second plane ride".

Pics: Sydni and Diane; Jacob; Caleb -- all on our Continental flight.

We had an early morning flight and it was rainy but the flight was smooth. It was a direct flight and the kids enjoyed it all. They read and looked at movies on the flight.

Once we got to Newark and had our car pick us up, we were on our way to NYC. Jacob got car sick so he did not enjoy the drive in to town. Once we hit Times Square (where we were staying) they all got excited. We went to the new M&M's store and they had a good time getting all sorts of M&M paraphenalia.

Pic: Sydni with their M&M candy dispenser; Jacob in front of the stash of M&M's.

Pic: Sydni, Jacob & Caleb in Times Square waiting on the bus (the backpacks were gifts from the hotel -- filled with fun stuff for them to play with)

We went to the Toys R' Us store in Times Square -- the kids had been looking forward to riding the big Ferris Wheel ever since I came home with a picture of it from one of my business trips. They went crazy looking at all the toys. Sydni like going through the life-size Barbie doll house.

Pic: Diane, Jacob & Caleb on the TRU Ferris Wheel and Sydni in front of the Barbie doll house.

We spent most of our time in New York at places the kids would enjoy -- toy stores. In addition to Toys R' Us, we went to FAO Schwarz and the huge Build-A- Bear. At FAO Schwarz the boys made their own Hot Wheels cars (only have video of that) and Sydni made her own Barbie doll and met Barbie herself. The next time we go to New York, the kids want to "live" near FAO Schwarz. We also at in the soda shop there and had ice cream.

Pic: Sydni with Barbie

We tried to go to Serendipity 3 to get some frozen hot chocolate but the wait was entirely too long and we were tired and hungry so we instead went to Build-A-Bear and ate there in the cafe. Sydni got a bunny; Jacob got a penguin; and Caleb got a dinosaur. Jacob was so worried that the store was going to run out of the penguins because it was taking us forever to get there. Diane and I event made bears. Jacob has since claimed that bear but it still serves as a nice souvenir from NYC.

Pic: Caleb, Jacob & Sydni with their loot from Build-A-Bear

Another first was the double-decker tour bus that we took. We also went to the Statue of Liberty. We didn't get on the ferry to go to it because we wanted time to go to FAO Schwarz. One of the things the kids enjoyed most in NY was the Empire State Building. We went on the New York Skyride there which is a theatre type ride where you move around and feel like you are flying over New York. The LOVED it! Caleb took lots of pictures of the skyline. Sydni and Jacob saw a bit of it and then went inside to make sure they got souvenirs.

Pics: Jacob on the double-decker bus (it was hot!); Jacob, Sydni and Caleb on the pier in front of the Statue of Liberty

Pics: Caleb at the top of the Empire State Building

The boys became pros at catching cabs. Outside the Empire State Building they stood there with their hands up and yelling "taxi! taxi!". The cabbie who picked us up at the Statue of Liberty said it was the boys who got his attention. Diane and I were so busy talking he didn't know if we needed a ride or not but he saw the boys trying to hail him so he stopped.

Our trip back to Texas was long -- it was a late flight and we had a hard time getting from the hotel to the car. Our driver parked across the street -- in Times Square that is two streets over and with three kids and 11 bags (yes we had 11 bags at the end of the trip) we were in a pickle. Everyone in the city was trying to hail a cab at the same time but I finally tackled a cab and we made it on our way. At the airport, Jacob got stopped twice by security; once for having water in his backpack and then for having cleaner in his Build-A-Bear box. He also threw a temper tantrum in line because he and Caleb were already arguing over who was going to sit by the window.

2007-End of School Awards

May 23, 2007

The kids had their end of the school year awards ceremony on May 23, 2007. They all received awards.

Jacob received a Writing Award.

Caleb received a Math Whiz Award.

Sydni received the Principal's Award.

They are all excited to now be moving on to the 2nd grade.

rock climbing....

We went to Cousin Jessi Jo's birthday party at Main Event earlier this year and the kids loved it! We've taken them back there several times and one of their favorite things is the rock climbing. Jacob is like spider-man and just climbs up as fast as he can. That is not a surprise since he also climbs the walls at home. Caleb is just as spidery and climbs up too. He's a little more cautious than Jacob so he doesn't always make it up to the top but he tries over and over. Sydni goes up quite a way but she hasn't quite made it to the top yet...but she looks adorable trying.

round rock express...

I got the kids season tickets to the Round Rock Express games this year...it's selfish on my part because I enjoy the games. The kids take turns going and sometimes we all go together. Sydni recently had Girl Scout day there and she got to go on a parade around the field. Jacob went with me to the party with the players before the start of the season and he got to meet Brooks Conrad, Mike Rodriguez and Hunter Pence. Caleb's favorite part is the 300 club where we get to go to the 2nd floor, eat popcorn, drink, watch the game on TV and play Pac-Man during the game. Caleb and Jacob were able to run the bases as Sunday's game -- they definitely enjoyed that.

girl scout camping...

Sydni and Diane went to their first Girl Scout camp-out at the end of March/beginning of April. They went to Bastrop with cousin Gaby and Lexi as well as Colleen and Aunt Yolanda. They had a great time and did lots of activities and hiking over the weekend.

boy scouts....

Jacob and Caleb have been enjoying their time as Tiger Cubs. They have learned about food groups (and tell us often how sweets are not good for us); taken a nature walk and recently visited a museum on the UT campus. We will be "crossing over" later this month and camping with other boy scouts at Lake Granger.

caleb at nascar

Caleb went to his first NASCAR race on the weekend of April 15. PoPo and I took him to Fort Worth with us to the Texas Motor Speedway. The weather was awful as we were driving in to town and we missed a tornado by probably between 15-30 mins. We got to our hotel without incident and went to bed early to get ready for the big day on Saturday. As soon as we got up, Caleb decided he wanted to eat at Denny's (his new favorite breakfast spot). We got to the races and Caleb was enjoying himself -- until we had to climb to our seats in row 60! It was a long climb up and we were all huffing and puffing by the time we got there. A cold front came through so we were all freezing as we were watching the race. ...Caleb took a brief nap and we left before the race was over because it was just too cold.

Sunday we got a late start and got to the race just in time for the start. Caleb enjoyed seeing all his favorite cars and drivers....#8 Dale Earnhardt, Jr...........#20 Tony Stewart...........#9 Kasey Kahne.........#22 "the CAT car" Dave Blaney. Of course, he enjoyed all of their stores as well. He had to get cars from all of these guys. He was right along side everyone else in cheering his drivers and booing those we don't care for (Jeff Gordon).

Caleb took another brief nap on Sunday during the race and thankfully the sun came out so it was a nice warm day. He's insistent that he is going again in November when NASCAR comes back to Fort Worth. ....but it will be Jacob's turn then.

pride of pasemann....

Jacob was named the Pride of Pasemann again last Friday. He is doing so good in school and he really seems to enjoy his teacher and classmates this year.

Way to go Jacob!

boy scouts.....

Jacob and Caleb went to their first Boy Scout meeting on Monday night. They were so excited. They learned the BS sign, pledge and lots more. They also made scrapbooks of their families. They have a nice man for a leader and we're all looking forward to participating.

Sydni's Girl Scout troop is off and running as well. At the last meeting, she made ice cream (with ice, sugar, ice cream salt, milk and vanilla) -- it was yummy! She also made campfire pizza (English muffin, pizza sauce, cheese and pepperoni) -- Jacob and Sydni both loved this.

A couple of weeks ago the kids went to Cousin Jessi's birthday party at Main Event. The boys loved it! Sydni was a little overwhelmed at first but quickly came around. We were the last to leave the party (even after the birthday girl). I promised them I would take them back so Diane and I took the boys there this past weekend. They found the 3D theatre so we did that a couple of times. They also came across the rock climbing part of the place. Jacob and Caleb went crazy. Jacob climbed up quite a bit; and Caleb made up to the top for the first time. We were all so proud.

Diane had surgery a couple of weeks ago to remove gallstones. She was in the hospital overnight and she's having to recuperate for at least three weeks at home. She's doing good and the kids are counting down the days until they can jump on her.

2nd nine weeks....

Friday was the awards ceremony for the second nine weeks of school. Jacob was sick so he wasn't able to attend.

Caleb received the Match Whiz Award.
Sydni received Classy Conduct and the Writing Award.
Jacob received Perfect Attendance and Classy Conduct.


We are proud of them all.

portraits...

Diane took the kids to get their portraits taken last year. She gave them to family for Christmas. It was a shock that she was able to keep the secret from us -- it was an even bigger shock that the kids didn't tell us about it since they are always "squealing" on Diane.

The pictures are so great! They turned out perfect!

snow...

The weather today has been full of sleet and snow (granted, not much but it still came down). The kids were home from school due to the weather and they were happy to see snow. Caleb called me to make sure I knew it was snowing and also to let me know that we didn't need to go to Colorado anymore since we now had snow in Texas. I had to break it to him that if he still wanted to go sledding and build a snowman, we would still need to go to Colorado.

happy new year....2007

Happy New Year!

The kids enjoyed a couple of weeks off of school for the Christmas holiday. Over the break, Sydni hosted her first sleepover with some school friends. She had a great time and was so excited! Her friends Katie, Ariana, Mandy and Nina all had a great time as well.

For New Year's Eve, Sydni's friend Katie had a sleepover so this is the first year she spent it away from family welcoming in the new year. The boys had a sleepover as well on New Years Eve. They had a great time with Anoa, Noah and Christian. Dimantri went for the afternoon to play but he wasn't able to spend the night. This is the first year that Auntie D has not taken a picture of all three kids right at midnight.

A nasty stomach bug also hit the household during the holidays. Jacob got it first and spent an awful night vomiting. Caleb was the second to get it and had to go to the emergency room when we couldn't control his vomiting. He did great and they all got over it soon. However, right after school started back up, Jacob was hit with a viral infection and had a raging fever for a couple of days. Thank goodness he is doing better and is better now.

merry christmas...

Christmas celebrations started early this year. The kids celebrated with the Kucera family in Rockdale on December 23. On Christmas Eve, the kids went to their grandpa Karl's house to celebrate with the Blomquist family. Also on Christmas Eve, the kids went to the annual Torres family celebration. They were visited by Santa Claus there -- Jacob asked for a puppy and Sydni a doll. Caleb didn't care to see Santa.

At our family party, it is tradition to have tamales. This year we also had homemade beans, tortillas and barbacoa. Jacob and Caleb both liked the barbacoa, which was a surprise to us as they usually don't try new things. Another tradition is to play bingo -- Jacob was the first person to bingo this year. All the kids eventually won and we all had fun.

Sydni and Jacob sang in the choir at the Christmas Eve celebration at our church last night. Well, Sydni sang (and did a great job!) -- Jacob misbehaved and didn't get to sing and he had to sit it out. It's embarassing when Diane's friends go up to her and tell her they were watching Sydni and Jacob to see who would win the fight that was going on between them. Jacob sat down with Granny Gran and he accidentally hit the man next to them. Granny Gran told him he needed to apologize to him and Jacob said "I don't talk to stangers!"

Caleb fell asleep during the entire mass -- which was probably a good thing as I had already warned him that he was losing Christmas presents because he wasn't behaving. He sulked under his coat mumbling "I'm not here...I'm not here" and fell asleep.

After mass, the kids went to Granny Gran and PoPo's and opened some presents. Here's a rundown of what they received:

Sydni

• Disney Princess castle with all the princesses
• Disney Princess story pillow
• Bratz doll
• Hair braider contraption
• Guitar

Jacob

• Transformer robot
• Magnetix Dinosaur
• Airplane
• Skateboard
• Drums

Caleb

• In-line skates
• RC Bulldozer
• Cranky
• Dinosaur
• Electric guitar

Next, they went home and opened presents from Diane and Keith (can't remember all the gifts so here is what I do remember):

Sydni

• My Little Pony Crawler
• Text message phones
• Camera

Jacob

• Robosapien (I can't for the life of me remember anything else as this was the ONLY thing Jacob really wanted this year and he was so excited when he received it)

Caleb

• Gameboy
• Cell phone/text messaging/camera

They are off to another family gathering today and then we will all be together this afternoon for more gift giving.

stomach virus...

Jacob and Caleb have caught an awful stomach virus. Jacob was the first to get hit with it on Tuesday night. He threw up quite a bit but the worst seemed to be gone by late the next day.

Caleb was struck with the same thing on Wednesday night. Usually Caleb can tolerate a stomach bug but this one was fierce. His stomach was completely turned inside out; I ended up taking him to the emergency room at about 2:30 am and we were there until about 6 am. Diane met us there. It wasn't until we met with the doctor that he then started having blood in his stool. It was quite scary. We are still not quite sure what caused that but hopefully we'll know by next week. He now seems to be ok after a couple of days of feeling dreadful.

Sydni did start to feel sick last night but she doesn't seem to have caught the bug.

glad tidings....

On December 9, the Girl Scouts had a holiday party in Taylor. Sydni, Gaby and Lexi (along with Diane, Colleen and Aunt Yolanda -- and me) went to the party. It was a breakfast so the girls wore their pj's. Some of the Junior Girl Scouts read the Polar Express to the girls and then sang carols. They had fun!

Also on that day, Lisa hosted our annual family Christmas cookie exchange. We all had a great time. This years attendees were: me and Sydni, Lisa, Lola, Laura and Morgan, Colleen, Yolanda and Gaby, Aunt Yolanda and Lexi, Rita and Valerie, and Rosa. Everyone made great cookies! This year, Sydni and I switched from our Spritz cookies to a peanut butter mini cheesecake. It was entirely too much chocolate and peanut butter but they were alright.

build-a-bear

When Jacob and Caleb woke up on Saturday morning and saw that Sydni had been to Build-a-Bear, they said they wanted to go too. Jacob has been there once before but Caleb has not been. So I promised them I would take them on Sunday so today we set off for the mall. We did a little Christmas shopping first then headed over to Build-a-Bear. Being so close to Christmas, it was CRAZY there with so many people. Both boys picked out dogs -- Caleb named his Rocky and Jacob named his Jacob. They put soccer outfits on them with baseball caps and cleats. As we were leaving, they saw carriers for them so they had to get those too. The only thing Caleb refused to do was put a heart in his dog -- and he definitely wasn't going to kiss that heart. The girl stuffing the dog was quite shocked that he didn't want to put a heart in; she gave me a look and I told her to just go with it.


They did so well there so we went to Inflatable World to play for a while. Diane met me close to the mall to take the boys and Sydni to a Christmas play in Austin.

christmas outings...

Sydni and I went to the matinee of Austin Ballet's "The Nutcracker" on Saturday, December 16. This has become an annual tradition for us -- this year we were joined by other family members: Colleen and Gaby, Yolanda; Laura and Morgan; Eleanor, Paula and Jessi Jo; Yolanda, Noah, Mackenzie, Lexi and Desiree; Rosa and Lisa. It is a great production and I look forward to it every year. Sydni fell asleep for a few minutes towards the end and I knew she was looking forward to the part where Clara is in her bed (the end of the play) so I woke her up and told her "there is the bed" and she was so out of it -- she said "wake me up if anything cool happens".

Diane and the boys met up with us and we went to the see the "Trail of Lights" that night. We met up with family members to enjoy the lights: Colleen, Gaby, and Jonathan; Yolanda, Colby and Kyle; Eleanor and Jessi Jo. It is quite a sight to see the lights but it is such a long walk around to see them all. We at least took the shuttle bus so we didn't have to walk far in that regard, but it was still a lot of walking. Towards the end Caleb started to complain but all in all they did great.

first sleepover...

Sydni went to her first sleepover on Friday December 15. Her friend Katy's birthday was on Saturday so she took a group of girls to Build-a-Bear in Austin and to visit Santa on Friday afternoon. From there she spent the night at Katy's -- this was her first time to spend the night at a non-family members house so we were a little worried that she wouldn't stay. I told her that she could call me at any time during the night if she wanted to come home and she quickly asked where I was going to be so she could make sure she had the right number. She did great and stayed the entire night.

another pledge of allegiance....

Jacob was asked to say the Pledge of Allegiance at school on December 1. He did well and did not need to have the pledge on paper in front of him -- he had it all in his brain. Very good Jacob!!!

i pledge allegiance....

Caleb was asked to recite the Pledge of Allegiance and the Texas Pledge at his school on October 31. He did a great job -- the night before he told Diane that he was getting nervous; he didn't know if his brain was going to remember what to say. He needn't have worried -- he was perfect. The nurse at school couldn't believe it was him when he spoke because he never speaks to her when she talks to him.

I took a video so you could hear him -- but the picture is just random since I couldn't video Caleb actually reciting the pledge.

happy halloween...

Jacob, Sydni and Caleb spent Halloween 2006 at the Spooktacular and trick or treating. The Spooktacular is an annual event the city puts on as a safe alternative for trick or treating. The businesses downtown have candy for the kids to trick or treat and they have games and food as well. They also have a haunted house but this year it was too cold and the line was too long to wait.



Jacob dressed up as Darth Vadar; Sydni went as a marabou kitty; and Caleb was Dale Earnhardt, Jr. One of the kids neighbors, Mandy as a cat, joined us this year for the night's festivities.

karate match...

The kids had their first karate competition on October 28. They all won first place and had a good time.

Here is Sydni sparring (in white helmet):



Here is Jacob sparring (in white helmet):



Here is Caleb sparring (in white helmet):

awards assembly...

The kids had their first awards assembly of the year last month and we're please to report their awards:

Caleb:

• Reading Award for his class
• Classy Conduct

Sydni:

• Writing Award for her class
• Classy Conduct

Jacob:

• Classy Conduct
• Perfect Attendance

the hulk at sea world....

We all went to Sea World last Sunday -- it was the first time this year we had been so we were all ready for it. Diane bought us season passes so we'll be going a lot (hopefully). Jacob wanted to get his face painted so he got half a Hulk face. Caleb absolutely did not like it and had a hard time eating while looking at Jacob. Doesn't he make a cute Hulk!

tennis anyone....

Jacob, Caleb and Sydni are also taking tennis lessons. Next week is their last lesson and so far they are enjoying it and doing quite well. Hopefully they will keep playing and taking lessons.

karate....wax on/wax off.....

Diane signed up Sydni, Jacob and Caleb for karate lessons and they have been going for a few weeks now. They are doing pretty good at it -- they started sparring this past week and have a competition next weekend. Not to mention they look too cute in their uniforms.

little entrepreneur....

Sydni is now designing jewelry. She has started making earrings and bracelets for her family and friends. Here's a picture of Granny Gran modeling her Sydni designed earrings.

just call me dale jr.....

Caleb is now a NASCAR race fan -- a #8 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. fan. He is also a fan of the #22 CAT car since he has two of those cars. We got home from a party one Sunday a couple of weeks back and I asked what they wanted to see on TV. As soon as he saw racing he said he wanted to see that and ran to his room. We watched most of the race and he was really into it. Granny Gran took the kids to get their Halloween costumes and Caleb picked this one. Granny Gran had only seen the #20 Tony Stewart costume but Caleb said "no, I have to be Dale Jr." -- they called me when they got home and Sydni told me they had a surprise for me so for me to get right over there. When I walked in the house, they popped out from behind the sofa and Caleb said "just call me Dale Jr."! It was too cute!


Sydni picked out a kitty cat costume and Jacob picked out the Darth Vader costume. I'll wait until Halloween to post their pics.

love note...

A few weeks back, Sydni received her first "love note" from one of the boys in her class. I'll have to ask Mom or Diane for his name -- Trey or Eric or something like that I believe.

Sydni was embarrased to tell me about the note -- but she finally told me that he wrote her a note that said "I love you Sydni" (two notes actually) but she doesn't love him so she crumbled it up. Apparently this little boy is not very nice to her so she didn't even want to keep his note. I asked her to let me have the note so I can include it in her scrapbook -- she'll laugh at that later in life.

pride of pasemann....

Last Friday, October 6, 2006, Caleb was named the "Pride of Pasemann" for his First Grade class. I believe they pick three kids from every grade and give them that honor every Friday. He was excited that he was picked. Last year he had the honor twice.

Diane went to parent/teacher conferences on Monday. Jacob, Caleb and Sydni all seem to be doing well in their classes. They are all reading well above their level at this point and they all like their teachers.

baseball fans....

The kids and I have been to quite a few Round Rock Express games this season...so much so that I'm considering season tickets for next year. The entire family went to one recent game -- the kids all got Nolan Ryan jerseys.



All the kids enjoy the games, but Caleb is the avid fan. He is really enjoying watching the games and is learning all about baseball. His favorite player right now is Brooks Conrad. We went to our last game of the regular season at the end of August and I told Caleb that "this is it -- we won't see them again until next April" and he said "NEXT APRIL! -- BUT I'M GOING TO MISS THEM!" Luckily, now that RR is in the playoffs, we'll see them for a little while longer.

At first I thought it was just the fun of going to Dell Diamond and playing on the rock wall and the moon walks but Caleb's really taken an interest in baseball.

Now, with Sydni, it is all about the food (see August 15 blog). She's not interested in going to any more games --- she actually asked "do I have to go to the baseball game?"

Jacob is a little into the game -- his real interest though is the food, especially the sno cones (or shaved ice as Jacob refers to them).

They all enjoyed the gift shop! Below is just a small sampling of what they got this year.



The Express were in the American Division playoffs (and are now the American League PCL Division Champs) this past weekend. I took Caleb and Jacob to the game on Friday night. We like to sit behind home plate and getting three tickets together was hard so we had to settle for two in one row and one six rows in front of us. Since I wasn't going to let either boy sit by themselves, I told them one would have to sit on my lap the entire game. It was a little hard when the three of us were trying to eat all squished into two seats. It was sprinkling when we got there but luckily we were under the ledge so our seats weren't too bad. We were getting rained on a bit at the beginning so the boys wanted to go to the store and get an umbrella. I had my hands full carrying the food and drinks and the boys were following me to the store. I turned around to tell them that we were going to sit at the picnic tables and finish eating before going into the store when all of a sudden Caleb wasn't behind me. I asked Jacob where he was and he said that he was just behind him. Jacob started calling Caleb's name and I was running around like crazy looking for him. I ended up chunking the food and drinks once I realized he was not in our immediate vacinity. It was all so surreal -- we had not walked more than 20 ft. when all this took place -- but since it was raining, so many people were standing around in the walkways and I guess that's how we got separated.

Of course I started to panic when I couldn't immediately find him. The Dell Diamond folks were amazing. They were very helpful -- now the first police officer I found wasn't worth a dime. He actually looked like he was drunk and wouldn't lift a finger to help me. I just walked away from him irritated and then another officer came up to me. He was helpful and they had other employees out searching for Caleb. They all looked at me kind of weird when I said that he was Jacob's brother, but taller and that he looked like a Mexican (since Jacob doesn't look at all Mexican). The cop was very sympathetic and I told him we had to hurry and find him because I knew he was walking around crying looking for me. Not more than five minutes passed when the cop told me to stop and I heard "Dede" and then saw Caleb running through people to try and get to me. I couldn't stop hugging him and kissing him. We must have looked a sight -- me, Caleb and Jacob all on the ground hugging and crying. Jacob was really scared and he was crying the hardest. I told them "let's go home" and they both said NO! Even through all that madness they wanted to stay for the game. Caleb is shy and he wouldn't tell me what happened or what the guy who found him said to get him to come with him to me. Once we were all calm enough to talk, we found that we were each going the opposite way looking for each other. Well now Caleb has gotten lost with me, Granny Gran and Diane. That boy is a little houdini. Oi Vey!

We didn't get the umbrellas but they bought RR baseball caps to keep the rain off their heads. The rain shifted and we ended up pretty much covered the rest of the night. The game was called for a rain delay at the end of the ninth inning and they had to go into extra innings. Since it was Friday night, they had a fireworks show that they of course wanted to stay and watch. We were lucky that they went ahead and had the show during the rain delay. Jacob said "these are awesome fireworks!"



Caleb and I went back on Saturday for another game and things went well. It was so hot that we had to change seats so as not to burn up. We stayed in our original seats long enough for Caleb to get one of the balls the announcer throws out during the seventh inning stretch. I took my camera so Caleb was loving taking all the pictures.



There were at least three broken bats -- here is my favorite player, Mike Rodriguez, breaking his bat.

first grade....

Today was the first day of First Grade for the kids. They all had new teachers and new classmates this year (although each had at least one that they knew from last year). Even though they enjoyed their summer I think they were ready to get back to a routine....everyone except Sydni that is. She decided last night that she didn't like school anymore -- it's too long. Caleb was just excited that the class bullies from last year weren't in his class this year. In his words "whew!". Jacob didn't really have much to say -- although he didn't want to go anywhere near their school during summer.


(I know it looks like the boys don't have other clothes to wear other than these shirts but they do!)

sydni's day again....

Sunday was Sydni's day with me. We started the afternoon by going shopping (for me). We went into a clothing store and the first thing she said was "I don't know if this is the store that had the necklace that I wanted"...and sure enough it was. She saw this LARGE heart locket about two months ago and wanted it -- but it was $24 and I knew she would lose it or lose interest in it as soon as I bought it so I told her I would order one online where some of the money went to charity. Well, I completely forgot about that but she kept reminding me. So for one of her birthday presents, I ordered a small locket for her. When she opened it she liked it but she said "this isn't the one I wanted". UGGGGH! So, thank goodness they had it on Sunday and it was on clearance for $5. WooHoo. I think she's stopped wearing it already but at least she has it.

We then went to the Round Rock Express game. She was not into the game at all. She was more into the food -- she had chicken tenders with fries, a Sprite, a Cherry snowcone (that I filled to the brim and it dripped all over the place); some cotton candy; a hot dog; another Sprite and some water. We got up and down from our seats more times than I can remember.

She also got a pink bat from the store and some "lipstick" aka chapstick. She tried to practice in the stands and scared those around us. She wanted to climb the wall but by the time the sun went down and we made our way to the play area, they were closing up. She was not happy at all. That's a major point to remember for the next trip.

Sunday's are kids days at Dell Diamond so she got to see a clown and get a kitty kat balloon -- that popped while we were sitting and scared everyone around us. They also gave away RR Express/Mrs. Bairds lunch boxes (only to kids 12 and under--I don't think she's giving that thing up to me no matter how nice I ask).

For our next day out together she wants to go to Austin to take a ballet class.

happy 6th birthday to us....

Sydni, Caleb and Jacob turned six years old on Wednesday, August 9. Diane and Keith took us and the kids to Chili's on Monday to celebrate their birthday (Diane had to work on Wednesday). The kids loved it and enjoyed their birthday ice cream. They didn't get sung to so that was a bummer but otherwise a great meal.



Granny Gran, PoPo and I took the kids to eat at Sirloin Stockade on Wednesday -- one of their favorite places. Our waitress was so sweet and she sang Happy Birthday to them. They kept looking for her and saying "I don't think she's coming back..." We had cupcakes for them and they blew out their candles at their exact birth time.

Jacob -- 10:50 am
Sydni -- 10:49 am
Caleb -- 10:51 am

We were supposed to have a family birthday party on Saturday but all three kids came down with a viral infection so we were forced to cancel their party. Diane was planning on having a birthday party with their school friends in early September so we are going to combine the two. They weren't deprived though since they got to open up tons of gifts on Saturday from all of us.

And, Aunt Lola made them a delicious cake -- I kept saying "I'm glad it wasn't any good" trying to convince myself that I shouldn't have a piece but Caleb kept saying "It was -- It was good!".

Some of their gifts (in addition to all their school clothes and school supplies from Granny Gran and PoPo):

Sydni:

• Fairytopia/Mermaidia doll
• Tinkerbell doll (known to Sydni as Twinkerbell)
• Easy Bake Oven (over Diane's objections)
• Heart locket (of course, it wasn't the exact one that Sydni wanted)
• Princess CD
• Paintable tea set
• Cinderella clock
• Tinkerbell dress up outfit
• sleeping bag
• Princess Activity door hanger and activity pad
• Barbie Diaries DVD
• Faiytopia play things
• Leapster cartridges
• Video chair
• Scooter

Jacob

• Flying Superman
• Bionicles
• Cars Legos
• Magnetic Legos
• Spy Camera
• Yugi-O figure
• sleeping bag
• HUGE water shooter
• Flat Ball
• Flat Ball (again)
• Spy Night goggles
• Nerf basketball light-up
• Scooter
• Power Rangers
• Saduko game (for TV w/Checkers)

Caleb

• Lightning McQueen Car
• Power Rangers Megazord
• Red Power Rangers (talking one)
• sleeping bag
• Scooter
• Bionicles
• Bionicles books (to add to his collection)
• Car Legos
• Power Rangers gloves
• Nerf dart shooting game
• Remote control truck with jet ski
• Remote control Caterpillar (small version)
• Remote control Caterpillar (large version -- exact same as above only larger scale)
• Remote control convertible
• Binoculars

trying to get to sea world.....

Caleb called me today to let me know that he had a lot of money so he could go to Sea World. I asked him how much he had so he and Sydni proceeded to count out their money; six pennies, six nickels, five quarters and six dimes. I told him that comes to $2.21 -- he thought that was so much money and did he have enough? I said, well it takes around $50 to get into Sea World so you're still short....and that is only if you are going to get in by yourself. So I told him how many quarters it would take and how many nickels it would take so he and Jacob and Sydni are off now trying to scrounge up enough money to go to Sea World. I really hope he gets to swim/train with Shamu one day because he is enthralled with that beautiful creature.

One of these days we are going to take the kids to spend the night there -- either with the penguins or the sharks.

caleb's day

Caleb and I had another one of our days together. Of course, he wanted to go to another Round Rock Express game which was fine with me -- I really enjoy those games. Luke Scott got called up to play for the Astros so we were sad to see him not there but excited for him. That's one of the players that Caleb remembers because he always plays great. Morgan Ensberg was sent down to RR from the Astros so we were able to see him play and he was really good. It was a tough game and the Express lost it but at least Caleb got his treats that he has been patiently waiting for: camera, bat and ball. That boy loves disposable cameras -- he can't wait to get that film developed!

honky tonk....

The kids are quite the singers -- they all know the Brooks & Dunn song "You Can't Take the Honky Tonk Out of the Girl" and love to sing it. A couple of years back, we watched the Country Music Awards on TV and I was goofing around singing that song when Brooks & Dunn were on stage. The kids loved it so much that I had to go out and buy the CD. For a while there any time we got in the car they always would say "we want to hear Caleb's song" because Caleb is the one who was completely obsessed by it.

Then they forgot about that song for a while and started to really like the Beach Boys. #4 and #21 are their favorites.

They are into both of them equally right now. When they sing "Honky tonk", I will look in the rearview mirror and Caleb will have his eyes closed and just singing along; Sydni will sing and move her little head around as she does it; and Jacob belts it out.

On the B&D album, they will also ask to hear "Caroline" since that is another one of Caleb's favorites. I would sing "Caleb" instead of Caroline and Sydni asked me the other day how they got Caleb's name in the song. I felt so bad having to tell her that it wasn't really Caleb on the song but that I just sang it like that.

vacation time....

The last couple of weeks have been vacation time for the kids. They started out in San Antonio with Diane and Keith to have fun at Fiesta Texas. They all loved it -- but could have done without a couple of the fast rides. I think Jacob is the only one who truly enjoyed the water log ride and the "fast" roller coaster. Caleb and Sydni will pass on those next time.

Then it was off to Galveston to spend some time at the beach. Grandma Sherry met them there. Jacob had an accident before vacation that had him scraping his knee pretty bad and it affected his ability to be in the water (the salt water at least) so he didn't play at the beach. Caleb had a near miss with a jelly fish so he was a little traumatized; and Sydni didn't like all the shells she had to walk on so she preferred to stick to the pool.

It was off to Houston next to visit Uncle Greg and Cousin Chelsea -- and their dog Misty or Missy or something like that; they had fun swimming and playing there and got a kick out of Uncle Greg swimming with them.

As if that wasn't enough, they came home on Sunday and we left on Monday to South Padre Island. This time Granny Gran and I joined the kids and Diane for that trip. They were very anxious to get there and the fact that we kept trying to find shortcuts there didn't help. Once they saw palm trees they knew we were close but not close enough. They finally saw the water and the causeway and were over the top with excitement. We went to the beach the next day and had fun boogie boarding and playing around in the ocean -- at least the boys did; Sydni was still a little shy of the ocean because of the shells and stuff so she preferred the pool and making sand castles...she never actually got in to the ocean. Caleb loves going out in the ocean but after the near jellyfish attack he was a little leary and anytime he saw something move he thought it was a jellyfish. I had to lie a little to him and tell him the jellyfish had all stayed in Port Aransas and were far far away so that he would relax a little. Jacob's knee wasn't affected by this salt water so he had fun playing and going crazy -- he likes making sand castles too so he did that quite a bit. Diane and I kept trying to sneak in time on their boogie boards but they always ended up wanting them back. After spending half a day at the beach, they all decided they wanted to play in the pool so Granny Gran and Diane took them back to the hotel to play there. Since I had payed for the umbrellas and chairs, I was determined to get my money's worth so I stayed at the beach and read a good book for the afternoon. The next day we went to San Juan to meet PoPo and go to church at the Our Lady of San Juan Shrine. The kids loved it there and got a thrill out of lighting candles and praying. They all had to bring back candles for home so they could pray at home. PoPo then headed back with us to the hotel for more pool time and beach time (only Jacob and I ventured out to the beach for a few hours but it was fun). The next day we headed back home and took our sweet leisurely time making it back. I also have to say that we really liked the location of our hotel -- La Quinta -- it was right on the beach and the staff was very nice. The kids especially loved the vending machines....



Next year I told Diane we could save the trip and just drive the kids around for a couple of hours and put them up at a hotel in Georgetown or Round Rock and let them spend a few days at the hotel pool and it would be the same to them. I told them I'm heading to SPI by myself next year -- but Jacob said he would go with me. Granny Gran asked him if he would help me get there and he said "sure, just follow the palm trees".

jacob's turn....

Jacob's one-on-one turn finally came on Sunday (June 25). He really wanted to go to Chuck E. Cheese and the RR Express game; but since the other two had just gone to the game, we took all three kids to Chuck E. Cheese for the afternoon. We were there for about three hours and had a ball. Caleb, Sydni and I almost fell off the WaveRunner. Jacob made a friend there -- some 4-year-old kid who played all the games with him...he told me his name but for the life of me I could not understand what he was saying.

We took off for the game late so we didn't get to spend time in the play area before the game. But, we did have time to hit the gift shop (boy the kids love that place!). Jacob got a foam finger and one of those swirly things that has the balls going around and around. We sat up in the handicapped section (not sure how we got those tickets but they were good seats so no complaints) and there was one woman in particular who was enchanted with Jacob. She just got a kick out of him. He would wave the finger and then eat his popcorn or his sno-cone. He woo-hooed a bit but he wasn't too interested in the game. He REALLY wanted to go play so we went to the play area and he was there for a bit. I like that they have that stuff for the kids but really, do they have to keep it open during the games? That defeats the purpose of actually watching the game which I really wanted to do. When we were coming back from the play area he noticed the suites up on the top level. He wanted to go sit up there. It told him we didn't have tickets to go up there but he was insistent -- I had to take him into the gift shop to get his mind off the suites. I told him he could buy one thing for $1; he said "yeah, I'm only going to buy one thing". He went to a RR jersey and said "this is too big!" and thank goodness because it was $70 bucks. He found some baseball cards for $1 so he got those. When we got home, he opened the cards (he wouldn't open them at the game or in the car because he didn't want to lose them) and said that the baseball players were going to come to his home now because he bought the cards. How cute is he!

sydni's day

Saturday (June 24) was supposed to be Jacob's one-on-one day; but Sydni wanted to go to the game with us and started crying in the hallway. She cried "I can't wait another day, I just can't!" So Jacob graciously agreed to let her go with me and he went with Granny Gran, PoPo and Caleb fishing.

Sydni and I went to the RR Express game. She's not really into sports so I was curious why she wanted to go -- once we got in the gift shop I understood. She was so excited and she ended up getting a pink penant; lip gloss and three tatoos. We went to the play area so she could jump around before the game. She went up a bouncy slide and when she got to the top she looked at me and waved and then tumbled (literally) down the slide. Poor thing hurt her elbow and she was done with playing. Next up was getting a sno-cone -- oh she had been thinking about that sno-cone since the last time she was at the game. She had some chicken strips and finally some cotton candy.

Sydni didn't really pay that much attention to the game. She was more interested in talking throughout the game. The people around us got a kick out of her -- at least I hope they did; no one moved ;-) -- she was very interested in the bugs that were around the lights and wondering if the bigger bugs were the momma bugs and saying that they didn't have any daddy bugs. Even though she didn't want to pay attention to the game, she didn't want to leave. They went into extra innings but I told her they were just playing "extra" but the real game was over so we could leave.

oh barnacles...

That is Sydni's new phrase. Whenever something doesn't go right, she'll just say "oh barnacles". It sounds so cute! Her other catch phrase is still around..."and did you know..."; Mom and Diane didn't quite believe me when I was telling them and asked them if they heard her saying that....until she started saying it to them. Once she starts talking she'll keep on -- and most of the conversation will include "and did you know...". So very cute!

one on one time...

Saturday night Caleb and I went to see the Round Rock Express. I decided a couple of weeks ago to start taking one kid to do something fun every weekend. Caleb wanted to go first so he picked going to see the game. He loves watching baseball now. He asked if I was going to take him every day! And the hot dogs aren't bad. Tonight he took his calculator to keep track of the homeruns. While we were there, RR had three homeruns. Not bad. By the 7th inning, he had enough so we left. Mid-way through he said "I'm missing mommy". For no apparent reason -- he just missed her. Sweet.

All day long he was asking if it was five yet (that's what time we were leaving for the game). He also wanted to know how much the tickets cost. When I told him $12 each he said "aw man, I only have $1". I told him that's ok, I paid for the tickets. And he said, but I wanted to buy them. He told me after tonights game that he would buy the tickets the next time. How sweet is he?

Jacob is next up for one on one time. He wants to go to Chuck E. Cheese; Sydni picked Disney World for her one on one time. I told her it had to be no more than 30 min. away and some place we could get to without having to take a plane. She finally settled on going to a pottery place to do a little painting.

Earlier in the afternoon, Jacob wanted to tell me a secret -- he had a great idea. How about all three of them go to the game today, and then all three of them could go to Chuck E. Cheese, and then they could all go paint pottery. He said that the other two would be sad when one of them was away without them so he had a great idea. Niet. I bribed him with a movie -- thought it worked until Caleb and I were leaving and I went to say good-bye to him -- he had his baseball cap on and said "am I going?" -- but at least he didn't cry (I don't think).

kids college...

The kids are taking some classes this summer at the local community college. The first class they attended was "Rockin' Readers" and they had a ball. The local paper took a picture of the class for an article on the Kids College so they were on the front page of the paper. Jacob and Sydni were visible but the vowel ball was covering up Caleb.












They will be attending more classes this summer - but one class Sydni won't be attending is "Frolicking Frogs". Granny Gran scared Sydni with a frog story that included the frog having an accident on someone's hand so she decided she didn't want to chance that.

Hearing Sydni trying to say frolicking was so cute -- she would say frilicking frockeling frickiling -- it was just too cute.

cars....

Granny Gran and I took the kids to see Pixar's new movie "Cars" this weekend. We had been waiting and waiting for this movie for so long and couldn't wait to go see it. I promised the kids I would take off work around lunch time so we could go see the movie on the day it came out (June 9); well, of course that didn't happen. But I did get home in time to take them to the 7:15 pm showing at the local theatre. When we got there, there was a line outside waiting to get in and I realized that I had looked at the wrong movie and our movie had actually started at 6:45 pm.

The kids were so disappointed. They wanted me to drive to the big city to take them but I promised them that we would go to the first showing on Saturday. As soon as they woke up this morning, they kept asking if we had missed the movie. It was a long morning -- but we finally made it and loved it. It's a very cute movie -- and they have done a remarkable marketing job for this movie. Unbelievable.

Caleb, Sydni and I went to go see "Over the Hedge" today too. Sydni decided the bear was too much and does not want to buy this movie or ever see it again. Caleb thought it was all funny.

sick again....

Jacob is the one who came down with a stomach bug this past week. Granny Gran called me on Wednesday night (actually Thursday morning) and told me that Jacob had just thrown up. Hoping this was just a one-time deal, I told her to call me if he threw up again. I hadn't even gotten in to bed yet when she called that he threw up again. So there I go to his house -- long story short, he threw up like 14 times from midnight to 6am. I took him in to the emergency room at around 3:30 am (Diane met me there -- she had to come from work); Granny Gran had given him two suppositories but those didn't work. The doctors had to give him an anti-nauseous pill and we thought it had worked but once we were in the potty, he threw up again.

At least he didn't get dehydrated like he has in the past -- out of all three kids, he is the one who gets dehydrated the quickest and the worst. He's finally back to his old self (can't keep his hands off Caleb and always tatteling on Sydni) -- thank goodness.

baseball game....

We went to the Round Rock Express game with the kids today. Aunt Yolanda, Noah, Tristan, Lexi and Desiree joined us as well. Larry the Cucumber and Bob the Tomato from Veggie Tails were there at the game and Larry threw out one of the first pitches.



Today's game was against the Omaha Royals. Luke Scott, LF for the Express, hit two homeruns while we were there. Below is a picture of him hitting the second homerun -- a little blurry but I was happy to have gotten the picture.

Caleb was especially interested in the game and he has expressed an interest in participating in the baseball camp that the RR Express holds each summer. He's still too young this year but I promised him next year he can do it.

playdate...

Caleb, Jacob and Sydni had a playdate at the miniature golf course on Saturday. They have been patiently waiting for this course to open so Diane decided to treat them by having some friends join them. We played lots of golf and they all had fun. They are ready for their little golf camp later this month.



After golf, Granny Gran and I took the kids to the pool since some of Sydni's friends were going over there. It felt so good to be in the water but it was also a very tiring day.

Edited to add: After swimming, I took the kids to Sonic to pick up dinner; while we are waiting Sydni tells me she has a "Gripz" stuck in her nose. I turn around and say "what?" and she repeated it. That crazy little girl had put a bunch of "Gripz" in her hand and bent down to suck them in to her mouth -- and one accidentally got sucked up her nose. She tried her best to push it out from the outside but it didn't work -- so I had to tell her to hold her other nostril down and blow out -- it took a while but it finally FLEW out and the boys thought it was the coolest thing. First Jacob with a rock then Sydni with a "Gripz" -- not sure what to expect from Caleb.