The Last Hurrah!

Much to our dismay, the Redding Lake House has been sold.  We decided to sneak one more family pow-wow into the place we have grown to love for all of the memories it has helped create.  Lucky for us Memorial Day was open!  (Bonus was a visit from my Mom and Pete, which was fabulous as they had heard so much about the Lake House.)  One of our traditions is to take pictures after Church on the front steps.  It has been neat to see how much all of the kids have grown over the years on these steps.  We'll miss this wonderful family meeting ground, but we are so grateful for the time we have had here.

Year One=Preschool

Cruz made it through his first year of preschool at Grace.

Doesn't he look thrilled?!?

 What a great way to celebrate at our favorite gymnastics place--Impact Sports!

Reared and ready for more!

Isms of the week

O: "There sure are a lot of people named DJ on the radio."

C: "That's how I roll!" (in other words...how he does things :)

T: "Here Mom!" (for EVERYthing he hands me--food, books, you name it!)

Handy Dad

For Beau's birthday the boys got him a book titled "Handy Dad", with step by step instructions for multiple projects.  It has evoked so many great do-able projects and many more to come.  Bottle rockets, tire swing, longboard skateboard, etc.  The boys LOVE to be with Beau and  to build things makes the time even better.

Dandelions

When Beau and I first got married we disagreed as to what a dandelion was.  I was FOR SURE it was the wishing flowers you blow and he was FOR SURE it was the bright yellow flowers growing in the grass.  Well, turned out we were both right.  What a grand lesson to learn early on in our marriage.  Two completely different ways can be right.  Every year when the dandelions emerge I am reminded of the importance and relevance of our dandelion lesson & I fall even more in love with my sweet husband because we have learned just a bit more about life and growing together each passing year. 

Soccer's best part

The look on his face was priceless.  Cruz could hardly believe that HE was getting his OWN trophy.  All he kept saying was, "Oshyn's going to be so proud of me!"

Trophys are not overrated for 3 year olds.  Thank you Coach Bobby.

Good things come

to those who patiently wait--nearly 4 years.  Wahoo for the Bird of Paradise that decided to emerge this week!

Dear Cancer,

       Just in case you haven't got the memo, you are welcome to stop invading people's bodies.  I haven't met too many people that like you...actually, zero to be exact.  This past Saturday, Cole and I ran the Parkway 1/2 Marathon in Sacramento.  Susan G. Komen (Marathon for the Cure) and I raised $1100 with the help of awesome and generous people to beat you.  And I ran--oh did I run--because the motivation behind kicking you in the rear made me strong.  And although you may think at times you are winning this fight, when individuals survive your unwelcome presence, they definitely come out stronger than they started.  So you may as well just leave everyone alone.

                                                                                               Good riddance, 

                                                                                                               Me

Throughout the run (and training), my thoughts were on Michelle and Aunt Shari constantly and all that they have gone through on their journey--especially when it got hard.  I have had many epiphanies on my long runs training for this day, but I will spare you most of the "deep" runner's high thoughts.  When I got to about Mile 7, Michelle's chemo was what came to mind.  She is more than half way done with the nasty nasty and running wise, I was just past the half way point.  I got tears in my eyes because I felt so connected.    

Along the path there were all kinds of motivational quotes.  I related them all to cancer--which fit perfectly.  One of my favorites was..."Pain is nothing compare to what it feels like to quit."  I have no idea what it is like to have cancer (thankfully).  But I do know that hope, faith, and courage are things you must keep and giving up is something you must never do.  (I'm sure that was also easier said than done--my kudos to all that are fighting the fight--you have innumerable cheerleaders on your side).

The last mile was long because I kept looking for the arches.  But when they came into view, I sprinted as fast as I could to cross the finish.  Cole gave me a high 5 when I passed her on the side cheering me on (as I imagined Aunt Shari, an 11-year survivor, doing for Michelle).  

And just like that it was over. We did it.  The journey was complete.    

I CAN NOT wait for Michelle to cross that finish line.  Sweet is an understatement.

{Our cheer squad}

After the race they had a party for me & the ladies at Arden Fair.  Okay maybe it wasn't for me, but Susan G. Komen is having a 5K next weekend and as you can tell, they are getting the word out!  It looked fabulous.

This was an incredible experience.  Seeing how far I could push my limits and being proud of myself for setting and reaching such a goal.  By far, the very best part was doing it for the ladies.  I cannot express in words how touched I was getting donations for this cause.  I was literally dumbfounded when I reached my original goal of $500 in less than a week.  I am still on cloud 9 that over $1000 was raised in the end.  People are good.  People are generous.  People are supportive.  Cancer will never truly win.

Sharp

These guys were looking sharp on Easter morning.  For some reason my lovely computer isn't remembering any others that I downloaded, but boy am I thankful this one was saved on my desktop.  I am amazed that they are all looking at me AND smiling at the same time--PRICELESS :)
Easter is such a fabulous day to celebrate the resurrection of Christ--talk about priceless.  We enjoyed a morning hunt for a variety of eggs--candy filled, hard-boiled and resurrection eggs.  Church was special and the day poignant, being that a young mother in our ward had just passed away the week prior.  Eggs ala Goldenrod was the special meal that we feasted on when we got home and the rest...well, the rest is history.

Lately

It reached high 70s maybe 80s a few weeks ago and everyone HAD to go swimming it was SOOO hot :)  Oshyn was so proud he could swim the length of the pool under water without a breath (and he did it 2 1/2 times!)  Speaking of swimming, Tyce started lessons end of March and is doing awesome "getting the wall" or Miss Julie's hand, and floating.  He says "wimming"!  I love ISR in case I haven't told you yet!

The boys are still amped on playing tag at the park every chance we get.  Tyce even says "TAG!"  One of my favorite parts is when they get so excited when I'm IT and start singing radio songs as they are trying to be tricky.  I like to hear and laugh about what they think the words to songs really are.  Good stuff.

Oshyn informed me that about 5 girls were chasing him on the playground the other day (they will remain nameless).  He said to me "C-R-U-S-H...that's all I'm going to say!"  Five girls trying to swoon my nearly 7 year old!  They'll never catch him, he's too fast :)  I hope! (Since I wrote this, the situation has turned into quite a daily ordeal--I'm not a fan, but thankful he tells me all about it).  He is starting to resist hugs and kisses at times, but still wants to live next door to us when he grows up.  Yay.

I fell down running (again) and hurt my knee.  I winced a bit when we were riding bikes to school today.  Oshyn said I needed to "shake it off".  Ha!  I took his advice and its feeling much better.

Cruz prayed that his brains would turn into mashed potato head.  And a few days prior, he called the "umpire" in baseball a "vampire".  It took me a while to get what he was talking about--then it suddenly clicked!  Even funnier, he wasn't talking about the umpire--he actually meant the catcher :)  I love that kids brains.  Hope that they don't turn into any kind of potato!

Tyce is a crazy funny talker guy.  He says "Hi" to EVERYONE in every store or place we happen to be.  He makes a lot of people smile which is wonderful.  At all of the boys games, he cruises up and down the parents saying hi and asking them to hold him--"Up! Up! Up!"  Then he laughs with them shows them his teeth "tee" or puts his finger up his nose and says "nose".  Once he's made sure they have offered him a snack or drink, he makes his way to another parent.  Again, he makes people smile and laugh.  He's recently started calling buttons (like on phones or keys--unlock/lock) "butt".  I'm just waiting for the older guys to notice--might make for some interesting games.

Life is good.  Busy and crazy, but I can't imagine or would I want it any other way.

Root for Oshyn

Oshyn has been REALLY into baseball this year, so I wasn't surprised when we he requested a baseball cake.  I already did a bat and ball deal with Cruz last year, so I went for the diamond this time around.  Very characteristic of Oshyn, it was "THE BEST CAKE EVER!!!"  He sure knows how to make me feel good.  We had some friends and cousins over for a baseball game and outdoor picnic--complete with peanuts and cracker jacks.  He was thrilled and one satisfied seven year old.  It was a beautiful day and only the 2nd out of 7 birthdays that was actually sunny.  Perfect for a ball game.

7

What a rough way to spend your birthday--on the slopes!!  True to form, Oshyn woke up saying, "I CAN'T BELIEVE I'M SEVEN! I CAN'T BELIEVE I'M SEVEN!"  He is the definition of excitement bottled up into a little body.  To be honest, I can't believe he's seven either.  Where does the time go? Yet it is harder to believe that prior to seven years ago, no one called me Mommy.  I don't want to go back.  Can't wait to see what this year will bring for O.

Football guy

Ask the boy if he wants to throw the ball around and you may just get a full on football player coming out to greet you.  

Indigo (aka Sharks)

Cruz had his first soccer game--after the first 2 being cancelled due to rain, rain and more rain.  He was crying at home before it started because he suddenly didn't want to play.  Then like a little miracle worker, Oshyn took him outside to practice for a few minutes, let Cruz beat him over exaggerating-ly and then said "Cruz--are you going to beat the other team like you just beat me?!?"  Cruz said "Yeah!" and then behind his back, Oshyn gave Beau a thumbs up (like--Dad it worked!)  Cruz then went on to score two goals and had a blast.  We were dumbfounded, but happy.  The only thing that stopped him was a generous mom that shared gatorade with him.  He drank too much and had a stomach ache every time he tried to run after that.  You can only ask for so much :)

When Cruz first got his uniform (a blue shirt) he said he wanted his team to be named "Indigo"--what 3 year old says that?!  Anyways names have evolved and by the time they actually had a game, he told me the name was "Sharks".  So the whole game Beau and I were yelling "GO SHARKS!"  When the game was over the coach got the team together and asked if they wanted to be called "Sharks".  They thought that was a great idea :)  

Thanks Cruz.

Artichokes

and kids.  Nothin' better.

He-man Woman-likers Club

The big boys are super into forts and club houses.  We have finagled what we can in our back yard with some wood and towels and they are satisfied.  They are fence climbers and give our neighbors heart attack scares when they sit on top of the little shed.  Sometimes all I hear is my front door opening and closing.  Not ever going out but always coming in.  They hop the fence, shimmy down the outside and then come inside and start over.

I had to laugh on spring break when Oshyn was a bit bored and he was trying to think of things to do.  He was heading up the stairs to my room with a rope in hand when I asked him what he was doing?  He said he was going to loop the rope around my bed and climb out my window.  I told him that repelling from our 2nd story wasn't going to happen, especially not with that skinny rope.  He got grumpy and said, "I never get to do anything I want to do!"  That is where I laughed.  Seriously--I have to say 'No' somewhere along the line!

Busy Boy

Tyce is turning into a little comedian/jokster.  He has a small, yet growing vocabulary and knows how to use it.  He bit Beau's toe the other day and said, "Owie!"  Occasionally when we kiss him he'll say "Owie" too and then smiles.  Tyce has just learned to say "Pepe" which is what my kids call my good friend Stephanie.  I was trying to have him say "Mama" the other day and he just kept laughing and saying "Pepe!"  So funny to see his little sense of humor emerging.  A much needed quality in this house!  He continues to carry the stool around the house and get up whenever he deems it necessary & as I type this, he has unrolled an entire roll of TP
(the things we let slide as we are trying to
document our lives).  He keeps me just a tad busy!

Speed Racer

The 442 Red Speed racer bike is my new best friend.  A few Saturdays ago, Beau had Cruz try Oshyn's big bike to see how he'd do.  Well, he rocked it and we've never looked back.  We had this great little (big little) red bike that our neighbor gave us a while back that Cruz has started riding.  Funny that O and C are riding the same size bike!  The crying that occasionally accompanied bike riding with Cruz has disappeared.  It makes perfect sense now.  He was peddling his little blue bike about 10 times as fast and going almost no where.  Talk about frustrating!  Now he stands up, rides jumps, does tricks, asks O if he wants to ride bikes, can go on bike/runs with Daddy or Mommy (and rode 4 miles on Saturday!).  I can't tell you how happy I am that he is enjoying it.  All it took was a 16 inch tire on the 442 bike.  The only downer is that he looks like such a big kid riding it.  I keep telling them not to grow, but they're not listening.

Glasses

 Somebody REALLY needs new glasses!

And Somebody REALLY wishes he did too!