49ers Win NFC Championship!

The San Francisco 49ers are in the playoffs!  How exciting!  For many many seasons now, our family rooted for them even though they have been less than stellar.  Damien has rooted for them his entire life.  And now, we have real reasons to be excited because it's post season, baby!

Today- for the NFC Championship game vs. the Eagles, we had Mark and Jocelyn, Tony Fery, Tomas Jimenez, and Jamison Pfister over to watch the game!  It was a great group because all the people in attendance not only really know the game of football, but have been lifelong 49er supporters!

Not only did Damien and I go to school with Tomas, Tony, and Jamison, but Tony and Tomas worked for the 49ers for many years!  This was an exciting game for sure.  To keep this short and sweet (even though it was agonizing) the 49ers pulled it out at the very end of the game!  It was nuts here!  Our house erupted!  In fact, you could hear screaming in the streets from all the neighbors!  It was an awesome game and an awesome win for the 49ers and the community!

On a side note, my kids pretty much rock.  They made this Lego replica of a football field, complete with snack shack, and sportscaster desk!  They also had an old card that played the Monday Night Football theme song when you opened it that they deconstructed and took the components out of it. They then attached it to the Lego field so when you touched it- it played the song!  We all have football fever over here!  Superbowl in 2 weeks!

Cousin Sleepover!

What's better than a cousin sleepover?  Donuts in the morning!  We love it when Gabe and Brennan spend the night!

Breakfast With Mom!

Every year, St. Christopher offers 'Breakfast With Mom'!  We have gone before but my kids are always hesitant to get up any earlier than they need to.  This year, we decided to go and it was easier getting out the door than we first thought!  They just threw their uniforms on, I did their hair and we were gone!  Although we were all tired, we were all happy we went.  The kids loved all the donuts, muffins, fresh fruit, cereals, and drinks.  And most of all, I loved being there with my four beauties.

Swendsen January Birthday Celebration

Today was an insanely busy day.  Early this morning, Damien pushed off with Michael, Matthew, and Emily and went to a college friend's son's birthday party in San Francisco.  After that, he continued north to attend the January birthday celebration for the Swendsens!  Today, we celebrated Sierrah, Heather, and Matthew!

Claire and I had to hang back because I had to coach her basketball game which started at 2:00 p.m.  As soon as it was over, we hopped in the car and cruised two hours north to be with the family!  They had a wonderful party!  First, they all met at a skating rink where they had lunch and skated until their hearts were content.  Even E got out and skated which my kids will never forget!  Damien said that the kids did pretty well.  We'll have to do it again, soon!

Claire and I were able to make it to the restaurant for dinner.  We unfortunately missed out on the skating.  Dinner was great.  We were able to meet Emily Hamric, who is Damien's brother Ben's sister.  It was an emotional time meeting her.  I know that she will forever be a part of Damien's family!

After dinner, we went back to Teresa's apartment for dessert and gifts.  She had created a wonderful candy bar for all the kids to munch on.  We had a great time there but had to hustle back down to San Jose because the kids all had school the next day.

Family is wonderful and it is great to take time out to celebrate each and every one's special days!  Happy birthday to the January birthdays!

Michael 5th Grade St. Chris Basketball

Michael is absolutely loving playing basketball at St. Christopher's.  5th grade is the first time you can play sports at the school and he is just enjoying it so much.  He is on a team with a lot of his friends and is having some great success!  He has generally been playing the 2 guard and is gaining confidence with each and every practice.

It makes me so happy to go to his games and see a huge smile on his face (of course, between moments of intense concentration).  Michael LOVES defense.  Basically, that is is favorite part of every sport he plays!  He loves to try and shut people down and uses his hustling abilities to change the pace of the game and disrupt the offense.  I love my guy and can't wait to see what else the season has in store for him!

Michael and Claire's History and Science Faire

Nothing like two huge projects due the day the kids get back from Christmas Break!  Michael and Claire were both busy over the holidays working on their respective projects.  Claire had a big assignment for Science while Michael was working on Social Studies.

For Claire's science project- she chose to test whether black or white candles burn at a faster rate.  Given that the color black absorbs more heat from the sun than the color white does, she wanted to see if the same were true with candles!  And in the end- the black candle did burn faster than the white one!

Claire loved making her poster board and did so mostly on her own.  I showed her how to make the board look balanced but she did all the cutting, taping, and typing to create her tri-fold poster board!  Claire was really proud of herself.

For his Social Studies project, Michael had to make a box which depicted 'The Stamps and Acts Which Led to the Revolution'.  Oh my gosh.  I had to dig deep to fully re-educate myself on England and our own nation's history!  At first- Michael and I thought that this  project was going to be a walk in the park.  And then the research began.  There was so much to cover and all of the necessary information had to be worked into a format which fit in a shoe box.

We decided to present it like an art gallery.  Michael's imagination went wild!  The thought of framing the stamps like pictures.  He then wanted to make little miniature ropes which would have held the guests back from the art.  He first wanted to make them out of licorice but decided on pipe cleaners.

I had to be more involved in this project than I first thought.  It was just too much information to get into the box!  I helped Michael brainstorm and come up with, what we felt, was a great finished product.

Tonight, we went to the Science and History Faire and were able to look at not only Michael and Claire's great work- but their classmates as well.  It was interesting to see every one's take on their own subject.  All in all, I think that we are all very happy that the projects are done.  I am so proud of their efforts!

A Girl and Her Kitty

Emily loves having her siblings around but she also relishes the time she has alone with me when they are at school.  But she gets especially lonely after the kids go back to school after any extended break.  It's been only two days since the kids went back to school after Christmas Break and she is feeling a bit sad.  What better to cheer you up than to sit next to your kitty, shielding you both from imaginary rain with an umbrella, while watching the birds fly through the sky.  Priceless.  Emily sure does love her 'kitty sister'.

Michael's Christmas Card to Nonna

This absolutely cracks me up.  This card is so classic Michael.  Michael is so creative and funny and writes things that constantly make Damien and me laugh!  This time, the target was Nonna.  Michael gave her this Christmas card and it had me in stitches.  So random, but so funny.  Love you, Michael!

Sorry, USPS. Emily Made Me Do It.

Emily sees everything.  EVERYTHING!  If you do something, she sees it.  If you eat something, she smells it.  If you even think of doing something, she's onto you!  Emily is a very observant little lady!  Well, throughout the Christmas season she watched me send out a gazillion Christmas cards.  Apparently, she wanted to do that, too.

The problem was, she did it when I wasn't watching.  (By the way, what was I doing?)  Today, she came to me wearing a jacket and boots and was holding what looked like fifteen sealed envelopes.  "Oh, wow Emily!  What do you have there?" I asked her.  "My Christmas cards," she answered with a smile.  She was so proud of herself.  "And what do you want to do with those cards, Em?" I asked hesitantly.  "We're going to go mail them now," she said confidently.

With a face like that and a handful of 'Christmas cards' that must have taken a long time for Emily to complete, I got ready and we headed to the mailbox.  Once we got to the mailbox, she opened the door and mailed each and every one individually.  Nope.  Not one of them had a stamp on it.  Not one had an address.  Just envelopes with some scribbles with the occasional variations of the letters E,M,I,L,Y.

Dear USPS,

I am sorry that you had to sort through your mail today and weed out these fifteen letters.  I know you guys are crazy busy with the holiday mail and know that these envelopes probably took a minute out of your already busy day.  Just know that mailing these blank envelopes made a little three year old's day today.  She thought she was sending one to Santa, one to the King Mouse, and one to all her family members.

In Complete Gratitude,
Emily's Mom

Emily's On-the-Go Massages

I don't know what it is with Emily, but she is totally obsessed with massaging whoever is driving the car.  I get these amazing massages on the regular but had to giggle today as I saw Damien getting Emily's notorious car massage.  It was funny to watch because she can barely stretch her fingertips to your shoulders and when they finally get there- it feels like a tiny little birdie walking on your shoulders.  So gentle, so relaxing.  And the best part is, they're free!

Tahoe Trip!

Because life isn't crazy enough, we decided to drive to Tahoe to spend a few days with Mark, Jocelyn and the boys.  My kids don't go back to school until January 7th so we decided to cram in as much excitement as possible!  We left directly from Healdsburg and for the first time in a long time- we got there without traffic!  Thank you, God!

Of course, Mark and Jocelyn's boys were so excited to see their cousins!  My kids wasted no time and were begging us to get their snow clothes on immediately!  Before we knew it- all six of them were covered in the cold white stuff and having a blast!

Last year in Tahoe, I remember feeling stressed as I had to watch Emily's every move.  This year was so much easier as she roamed freely on their property!  We are growing up as a family and it feels great!  This time, we explored the back of their property where Mark, Jocelyn, and their previous guests carved a sledding path into this steep hill.  The kids loved it and whizzed down while wearing huge smiles!

Michael and Claire got to go skiing again this year and improved a lot!  There weren't any major stories from the mountain other than the giant wipeout Michael took while Damien was videoing.  It was hilarious!  Michael is a dare devil and will learn by this mistakes.  Clairey chooses to play it safe and not put herself in a wipeout situation.  Even with their different styles, they both had a blast!!

Whether the kids were just playing in the yard, using snow paint, tunneling under a snow hill, playing catch with the football, drinking hot chocolate, playing the iPad (or other electronic babysitter), flying down the sledding hill or enjoying a nice cozy breakfast, fun was had by all.  Chalk it up as another successful trip to Tahoe!

Post Christmas Healdsburg Visit

We were only in Healdsburg for a night, but we were able to squeeze in a post New Year's celebration, a well orchestrated and professionally videoed puppet show (courtesy of Papa), fully engulfed ourselves in a fresh crab feast for dinner, got to hang out with E's best friend Terry, and enjoyed Marlene's famous french toast breakfast before we pushed off for a short trip to Lake Tahoe.  Even after all that- Emily was disappointed that we weren't able to go swimming.  I guess we have some work to do on educating her on the four seasons of the year.

Although it was short but sweet visit, we loved visiting with E and Papa and enjoyed the slower pace of life (post holidays) which allowed us to relax and reconnect.  Thanks E and Papa for the great visit!