Time flys when your having fun!!

I can not believe how long it has been since I last posted. Between work, kids stuff, and the businesses it is becoming more and more difficult to find time to do things that I want to do like blogging. I have got to find time to add it to my schedule. I really do enjoy going back and reading about the little things that I posted that I have forgotten about.




Lets see, Jake will be 18 in a couple of months. I can’t believe it, he has grown up so fast. He had the opportunity to graduate a year early but choose not to so that he could play football for one more year. Ten days after school got out while at football camp he got a concussion. A concussion that put him out of football until August. Four days from being released to play again by the neurologist he comes down with an illness that will keep him from football for six weeks. This is one of those moments in life where you wonder if you really made the right decision or not. He seems to be taking it in stride but I can tell he is a little disappointed that he doesn’t get to play and he could be in college already. He is working for Dane and still for Claim Jumper and finishing his last semester of high school.



Jared decided that he needed to switch how he goes to school so he is doing independent study this year and attending a couple classes at the high school. I think he really enjoys being at the high school. But I could tell right away he is overwhelmed with the amount of work that was given to him. We will see how this goes and if he does better answering to his teacher at independent study. He wanted to play football this year but felt that he was already behind with the workouts and the team camaraderie and decided not too.



Jordan is attending the middle school part time and is home-schooled the rest of the time. He seems to be happier with this set up rather then attending school full time. He is doing better in the classes he has at the middle school and we are finding his weaknesses very quickly since we started home-schooling. Hopefully we can get him back up to speed and ready for high school. He loves scouting and was inducted into the Wolfeboro Pioneers this year at camp.



Jessica is a little princess. There are times we could use other words to describe her but they are not appropriate for the blog. She just started 1st grade and is loving every minute of it. She is starting to read and loves her teacher and all the kids in the class. She loves doing homework and insist on it every night when I come home from work. Even if I just want to sit and relax I must help her with her homework first. We have been making trips to the library and I think she would take the whole library home if she could. She loves books.

Time flys when your having fun :)

Christmas letter

Christmas 2010

Early in November I remember thinking I need to get my Christmas list together so I can get my Christmas cards out this year. Well…..that didn’t happen, as usual. December rolls around and I am still trying to figure out when I am going to get to the store to buy Christmas cards or to have a few peaceful minutes to sit down at the computer and order picture cards. I even had the pictures taken this year. They look great hanging on my parent’s wall, but alas they did not make it to Christmas cards.

No worries! There are faster and cheaper ways of send out Christmas cards and that will be the excuse I am using this year.

Our family has had a pretty interesting year.

Jacob just turned 16 last week and now has his driver’s license. Although it has only been a week so far he has been a huge help with the family, especially running errands when needed. He is still looking for a job but he continues to put out applications and in the mean time he works for Dane. He has decided that since he is home all day he needed to find a sport to keep him busy. Snowboarding is the new passion and since mom sprung for the season pass to Heavenly, most Wednesday and weekends he spends in Tahoe. He will be starting at the community college in January taking some Sports Medicine classes and will be checking out BYU next week and BYU-I in August when he attends EFY.

Jared is looking forward to being able to attend school at home in January. He will miss his friends at school but he will get to see them at Seminary and other activities. His phone never stops ringing so I doubt he will miss too much of what goes on at the school. He will get frequent updates from all the girls on a minute by minute basis I am sure. Although, Jared loved playing high school football the concussion set him back quite a bit and he was out for awhile. Jared is finding an interest in teaching/helping special education kids. He spent the last part of 8th grade helping in the special education classes at the middle school and this year he has been helping a family with a few special education kids. Over the last few years he has helped a number of the special education boys in his Boy Scout troop work on advancement. The first of the boys earned his Eagle Scout award this last summer with Jared’s assistance.

Jordan loves to be anywhere his brothers are and loves to tell his sister what to do. He enjoys showing her how to find things on the computer and loves to let her play video games with him. Usually we can find Jordan in the backyard inventing some new tool, weapon, tree house design, or some other contraption. I have found many of his contraptions and wonder where he gets the insight to design and create such things. He loves being outside helping in the garden or collecting the eggs from the chickens. He is just as comfortable inside playing video games, on the computer or reading a book.

Jessica is growing like a weed as usual. She will be turning 5 in February and is looking forward to her birthday. She has already instructed her daddy and I on what she wants for her birthday as well as the cake and decorations that she would like. It will be a princess theme as usual or just about anything pink we can find. She loves her dresses and shoes (can’t forget the shoes) but she doesn’t mind going out back and playing in the dirt and mud in her dress either. This last year the boys had her running around the backyard collecting worms to feed the chickens. They tried to convince her to eat one of the worms, yuck. Mom had to step in and explain she could collect the worms but only the chickens were allowed to eat them. She is excited to start school in the Fall and has already asked that her brother drive her every day.

Dane and I have been busy with business and work. Dane still has his landscaping business as well as spending time managing contractors working in the Orinda and Moraga area for the Contra Costa Times, the New York Times, and Wall Street Journal as well as many other publications. He continues to fly planes when he gets a chance. It is really nice to be able to say I want to go to Tahoe or Monterey for breakfast and not have to worry about traffic or how long it will take to get there. We have had some amazing lunches that way!

I continue to work at the Sheriff’s office and enjoy spending time with the kids. I had to travel a little bit this year and learned early on that I needed more than a phone to appease the kids. I always travel with my laptop so Skype has been our new best friend. I can parent from states away and still make sure their homework is done. They love that.

Our family has enjoyed seeing pictures of your families, reading your letters, and receiving your cards. Hopefully, we will be better next year and get out our own cards. In the mean time, we wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Helping my father heal.

I am currently in Salt Lake helping my father heal. He had surgery last week and they were expecting complications. He came through surgery okay. There were complication during and after surgery but he is home and on the mend. I will post more later when I am on my own computer and have more time.

What happened to Summer!

It doesn't even seem like we had a summer here in the Bay Area. The sun was out every day, but there were very few days where it got above 90 degrees. It was actually kinda pleasant. However, it never really felt like we had a summer and Halloween is tomorrow. The summer actually reminded me of the summer I was pregnant with Jordan (now 10 yoa). I was blessed with a very mild summer, especially since I was 8-9 months pregnant.

Where are we now?

School is in full swing again. We have kids at 3 different school again. The drop off and pick up schedule can be a little tricky on certain days.

Jake is homeschooled right now. He was given the option to go to regular high school or to be homeschooled and he chose staying home. It was been a great experience for us. I do not have to do too much and he is responsible for his work and assignments. He currently has a B average and loves the fact that if he doesn't feel like working on anything until the evening he doesn't have to. There are, however, some draw backs. He can't play sports. Our school district doesn't allow him to play any sports or attend any of the activities at school. He will probably go back to the regular high school next year as he wants to play football again. He finished out the season at Waterworld and is just waiting out the last month and a half so he can get his drivers license and get a job.

Jared is a Freshman at the high school and was playing football but had to drop to concentrate more on his academics. As his favorite coaches likes to say "notice your called a student-athlete, there is a reason the student comes first in the title!" He is looking forward to working next summer. Jared will probably join his brother in homeschooling in January and is definately counting down the days until he can get his driver's permit in May.

Jordan is a 5th grader this year and is spending his last year at the elementary school. He will be a big 6th grader next year. He seems to small to be going to such a big school next year :( I know he isn't but it seems that way. He spend his first week away from home when he went to Outdoor Education at the beginning of October. He said he loved every minute of it but was a little homesick at first. I would have thought he would have enjoyed being away from his older brothers trying to beat up on him all the time.

Jessica is driving me crazy with the new stuff she learns each day. She won't start school until September of next year and she already asks me to do math, writing and reading with her. She went through all of the IXL math for pre-school on her own. I guess I should start her on the Kindergarten stuff but I don't want her to be bored next year. She is learning about letters and writing. We just started reading so I am sure she will pick that up pretty quickly as well. She told me the other day while playing tickle monster that I was not a monster I was a human. When I asked her what a human was she said "you have bones and blood mom". It made me laugh a little bit.

Everyday I count down the time until they start leaving the house as adults. Not because I want them to be gone but because I want to cherish the moments I do have with them. It will be gone sooner then later.

I can not believe that summer is already almost over. The kids will be back in school soon and back to a normal schedule. Some of the things we are looking forward to:

Sleep: The kids will be back on a normal sleep schedule. During the summer we do not have a set bedtime and they can usually stay up as late as they want. This year Jordan, was the one who was usually up the latest. There were nights that he was up playing video games or watching a movie until 3 am. We have learned that he requires less sleep than most people. He doesn't wake up as nicely as we would like but once he is up he is fine.

Work: Jake had a great summer working at Waterworld and Jared working for his dad every night. The money will be missed by them as it gave them the freedom to make their own choice on what they wanted to buy and what they couldn't afford. Although Waterworld closes in September, Jake is hoping that one of the new In-N-Out Burger's that will be opening in Pleasant Hill will hire him so he can continue to work through out the school year.

Sports: Jake will not be particpating in any school sports this year, although this doesn't mean he wont be playing anything. He will be working out with trainers for Lacrosse, and will be lifting weights for football throughout the year. Jared on the other hand will be playing freshman football this year and who knows what else. I know some of the kids on Jake's varsity lacrosse team are trying to recruit him to play so it will be interesting to see if he does.

School: This year we are down to 2 schools, instead of 3 different schools, which is nice. Jessica still has another year to go before she can start. Although she is driving her dad and I crazy with the knowledge she has already. Jordan will be a 5th grader this year. This will be his last year in elementary school. He is looking forward to the week long outdoor education trip, as our we. Jared will be a 9th grader this year. He is looking forward to the freedom high school gives him and taking a couple of foods classes. Jacob decide that he needed to focus more on school and decided to homeschool/independant study this year. He is taking all his classes on-line from home. This will be a new experience for us. The decision was left up to him on what he wanted to do and this was his choice. We are not sure how this will work but it will be a good experience for him to be responsible for his own work just like he has to do in college. No one makes him go to school, no one gives him busy work to fill up classroom hours, and he is not stuck in school all day. It will be interesting to see how this works.

Peace and quiet: Well sort of. It will be nice that the boys are gone most of the day. But, we will still have Jessica and Jake in the house but this may be a blessing. Normally, it is just Jessica when all the kids are off at school and she is bored without them. With Jake there now she always has someone to talk to, to play games with her, and help her get things out of the tall cupboards.

Toy Story 3 in 3D

Toy Story 1 was my favorite, Toy Story 2 was good, but Toy Story 3 was just okay.

We saw the movie in 3D and there really is not a reason to see it in 3D unless you realy like that sort of thing. There was nothing in the movie that jumped out at you or made your want to reach out to touch it. Also, I took my 4 year old and the glasses are not really designed for kids that age. They kept falling off or down on her face so halfway through the movie she just watched it without them. Don't pay extra for 3D.

The story line was a good one but I thought it was a little dark for a kids movie. Toys were attacking each other and holding them hostage. There were parts that made my 4 year old cringe. These were also the same parts of the show that made me hold her a little bit tighter so she did not feel scared and knew I was right there. However, if you have every lost a toy as a child this movie will make you cry. If you have a child that is getting close to leaving for college this movie will make you cry. Of course, I did. So be warned, bring a little bit of tissue.

Some of the jokes in the movie were oriented more towards the adult crowd which I love when Disney does that. They know parents have to sit through the movie too so they try hard to include something for us. I did laugh a few times.

Some of the characters from previous Toy Story's did not return to this one. All of the main characters are back. The characters that returned for Toy Story 3 were: Woody, Buzz, Jesse, Bullseye, Rex, Hamm, Slinky Dog, Mr & Mrs Potato Head, Squeeze Toy Aliens, and Barbie. Sarge and 2 of the little green men have a very small part. But toys like RC, Etch, Bo Peep and Mr Spell are not in this movie.

So go see it if you have to with the kids. But I suggest just buying it when it comes out on DVD or Blu-Ray.

However, a plus was the preview of the new Disney movie coming out. I was paying attention to Jessica and did not see the date, but The Sorcerer's Apprentice looks really good. Nicholas Cage is in it so that is a plus already.

New Perspectives and Once In A Lifetime Opportunities

First things first. My husband is blind, well nearly blind. Jared came home with a quarter the other day that was unusual and asked the hubby to read what was on the back. Guess what he can't see it. So he calls Eye Exam 2000 and they have an open appointment that afternoon. After what seemed life forever he was done with the optometrist and the diagnoses is he is blind and needs glasses. I could have told him that:) So a few more hours later and a HUGE chunk of change later his glasses are ordered. (They had to ship them out to process.) Seven days later...he picked them up yesterday. Guess what he can see again! And in my opinion he is looking good in those glasses!

So lacrosse is over and we had one end of the year party already. As I was sitting around the table with a couple of the parents, the conversation turned to Scouting. In the process Jake was invited to go to Philmont this year with a Pleasant Hill troop that one of his teammates is in and most of the boys go to his school. Jake went to their troop meeting on Monday night, and of course loves it. So he is headed to Philmont this year. They are doing a 57 mile trek and he can't be more thrilled. He was also invited to go to summer camp with them but when I got the cost of football all fiqured out for the year and the $1000 for Philmont. He had to choose. So Philmont it is. Most scouts don't get the opportunity to go to Philmont, and if you should happen to get the chance..DO NOT pass it up. I was invited to go as well, but I of course had to pass for this year. However, I already know there will be another opportunity for me to go and you can bet I won't pass up the next time.

So lacrosse is over but football has already started. Spring ball, summer ball, St Marys Football camp, and double days times 2 (Jake and Jared) add up for a lot of running around. I thought once lacrosse was over I would get a little bit of a rest, I was wrong of course.