2007 -- Mani & Pedi

September 2007

Sydni wanted to have some friends over -- well, she really wanted me to take her friends to the salon to get their nails and toes done like she and I do occasionally. It was fine when it was one friend but then when it came to taking three friends, I told her it would be better for us to do it at home.

I gave the girls mani/pedi's and Diane put streaks in their hair. The all seemed to enjoy it and Sydni had a ball.

2007 -- 7th Birthday

August 2007

Happy 7th Birthday Jacob, Caleb & Sydni.

The kids celebrated their 7th birthday at a party at the local movie theatre. Jacob, Caleb and the boys saw a Hot Wheels Acceleracers movie and Sydni and the girls saw a Bratz movie. I once again made them movie posters for the front of the movie and we had pizza and cake as refreshments. They got so many toys and they each got their own iPod shuffle. The guests thought there were each supposed to get a shuffle too -- one actually came up to me and asked if his was in his goodie bag. Uh no.

Pics: Jacob & Caleb in front of their poster; Sydni and a couple of her friends in front of her poster.

Jacob, Caleb & Sydni with their birthday cakes.

On their actual birthday, I took the kids to Chuck E. Cheese for their annual birthday celebration. This year it was just me and the kids and we had fun. They had a cake and gifts to open. They really enjoy doing that every year.

2007 -- Birthday at the Express

August 2007


For the kids 7th birthday, the Round Rock Express had their name up on the big screen and also gave them front row tickets to one of the games. The boys had been asking to sit on the first row for so long and I tried to get tickets but they were all sold out. I emailed the team and they called right away and offered tickets as a gift from the VP. Now that is the way to see a game. We had fun and they each got a ball from a player. Two Sacramento Bees and one RR player gave them each their own ball. We all had fun.

2007 - Announcers Booth

August 2007

When we were on our way to the airport in Austin for our NY trip, we met the announcer of the Round Rock Express games. Mike Capps was in the van from the parking area to the airport -- we recognized him and said hello. He was so nice and talked to the kids and invited them to come sit in the announcers booth with him once we got back to town. The kids couldn't wait to do this -- in early August they got the chance and had a great time sitting up in the booth and watching the game.

2007 -- JULY

Most of July 2007 was spent at Round Rock express games, swimming and just enjoying summer. We spent July 4 at Dell Diamond at a birthday party for Cousin Maddy. The kids loved it so much because they got to swim in the pool at Dell Diamond which they have wanted to do since they first saw it. That was a real treat for them.

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.