74 degrees and sunny

A beautiful Californian springtime afternoon…

Playing “long ago”:

Then running through the sprinklers:

Soccer

Its been over a month since I blogged.  Even Tom has told me that I need to post, so I know I really need to (he’s not a blog reader).  Initially, it was because I couldn’t top my last post.  I love those photos! But then we just were too busy.  We’ll see how much I can catch up on…

Esther has been enjoying her 1st year of soccer.  She’s so cute out there.  She often is out of her position, or not paying attention to where the ball is, or too timid to go for the ball- but she’s having fun.  And she is getting better. 

Last month was Soccerfest, which is where the portraits are taken and the kids have their first scrimmage.

And here are some photos taken at September games:

Go Super Stars!

1st Day of School

Yesterday was a really big day for our family.  Esther started 2nd grade at a new school, Jared started Kindergarten, and Naomi turned 1 month old!

First, we all took Esther to Ms. Garvey’s class.  Esther already really likes her.

 

Then, a few hours later, we took Jared to Mrs. Langford’s class and hung around a while.  I don’t really think he needed us to.  He didn’t pay any attention to us; he was so engrossed in his teacher and making sure he was doing what he was supposed to. But it was fun to be there and observe Jared’s first hour of school.

Both the kids came home really happy.  They couldn’t wait to go to school again this morning.  Jared is so excited to have homework.  This afternoon, he bugged me until I helped him start it.  I hope it’ll last. 

Super Star

We just finished our 2nd week of soccer practices!  Esther’s team is the Super Stars and they are so cute!  8 of them played together last year, and there are 3 new girls (including Esther) who haven’t played soccer before.

She’s having fun, and is really improving her skills already.

Here are pics from Esther’s first day of soccer practice:

Loof Lirpa! Update

On Sunday, I finally got the videos I’ve been taking on the camera onto the computer (thanks to half the family working on it, lol).  So, a month and a half later, here are the Loof Lirpa! videos:

When Dad got home, we told him about the Loof Lirpa and how it didn’t show up.  We wrote loof lirpa on a paper and had Esther read it in a mirror.  Finally, she got it!  It was cute.

Then she & Jared drew what they thought a Loof Lirpa bird would look like:

what the kids are doing right now

 

Being “bag” guys.  First, I thought they were saying bad guys, then it was clear what they meant.  lol

Don’t you love Esther’s outfit?  eeek.  She’s going to kill me one day for this.

Loof Lirpa!

Esther’s “Special Homework Assignment”:

Today is a special day.  It only comes once a year.  Today is the day the Loof Lirpa bird returns to our town.  Follow these directions very carefully to see the Loof Lirpa bird for yourself.

1. Go outside and stand on something tall (some steps, a patio, a chair, whatever).
2. Look into the sky and call “Loof Lirpa! Loof Loof Lirpa!  Loof Lirpa!” and he will appear.
3. If he doesn’t, go back inside, look into a mirror and do the same thing.
4. Next, draw a picture of the Loof Lirpa bird and bring it to school tomorrow!

She gave me the slip of paper this was typed on when I picked her up.  I laughed right out loud reading it!  I had a hard time not laughing the whole ride home.

I’ll share the results of the assignment after I figure out how to get the videos from the camera to the computer…

reading Potter

Friday night, my sister, Debi, starting reading Harry Potter to Esther. 

Saturday morning, when I went in to wake Esther up, this is what I found:

in a box or with a fox?

Yes, I would eat them in a house, and I would eat them with a mouse.

This week was Dr. Seuss’s birthday, so we had green eggs and ham for dinner tonight.

When I told Tom today what I was planning on making for dinner, he said “eeew”.  My past attempts didn’t look very appetizing.  (Not that this stuff looks appetizing, but at least it looks like its green eggs and ham.)

The kids were so impressed!!!  Esther almost didn’t want to eat it because she wanted to keep looking at it.  So I took lots of pictures so satisfy her.  It made it all worth it.

BTW, I colored the ham by mixing a little water and green food coloring and then painted it on the ham slices while they were frying.  To color the egg, I separated the yolk from the white, then mixed the food coloring in the white.

It did taste good. 

Tom even liked it.

He said I was fun.

“This is Your Life”: Cafeteria Food

…

Remember the Sesame Street parody “Here is Your Life”, hosted by America’s favorite game show host Guy Smiley? 

 

 I was reminded of that a couple weeks ago when I went with Esther’s class on a field trip.  We went to Elk Grove School District’s food service building, where they prepare all the school lunches and breakfasts.  At the school, all they do now is place pre-portioned and packaged foods into large microwaves and serve them to the kids.

The field trip was actually pretty fun and interesting.  The kids loved wearing the hairnets.  lol  We saw the bakery area, the packaging stations, the walk-in refrigerator and freezer.  (Not truly “this is your life” style, or we would have started at the farms, but anyway…)  Then the kids got to be taste-testers for a recipe they are considering for next semester.  They talked about how you experience foods with all of your senses, and you shouldn’t decided whether or not you like something just based on the way it looks.  After taste-testing myself, I’m glad I don’t have to eat cafeteria food.    The kids also went to a room where a kangaroo helped them play a game about the food pyramid. 

 

It was good for the kids to see where their food comes from.