Rachael's Slumber Party!

Rachael had a "Halloween in January Slumber Party" for her 11th birthday. We pulled out the Halloween decorations and prepared for a fun night. Allen told the girls about a boy who stole Halloween candy from little kids... He was hit by a car and died just this morning. A friend who works at the hospital let us have a few of his parts for tonight's party. They are in the garage... One by one the blindfolded girls felt the skull (frozen soup bone), brain (cauliflower with catsup on it), eyeballs (large grapes in applesauce), heart (squishy orange in jello) and the guts (spaghetti with sauce). Then un-blindfolded to see what they were really feeling. They had a GREAT time! We also ate pizza, watched Nightmare Before Christmas, made stuff with shrinky dinks and listened to music. Not your normal birthday party in January. I have to say Rachael is a great kid with good friends!

Field Trip to Effie Yeaw Nature Center

Ethan's class went to the Effie Yeaw Nature Center in Sacramento. They got to walk through a Maidu Indian Village (replica), visit their museum and go for a nature hike. Very fun and educational field trip.

You would not normally find a tepee in California. Tepees are made of buffalo skin and buffalo are not native to California.

Tree.

Walking back along the trail. We saw many deer, birds and wild turkey on our nature hike.

Birthday Continued

We measured Rachael tonight and she is 4' 9". Wii Fit weighs her in at 70 lbs.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RACHAEL!!

Eleven years old!

Happy Birthday Sweetheart!

Yellow Flower from Bella Bloom.

I love this yellow flower from Bella Bloom!

Thank you Bella Bloom!

Today I received beautiful flowers from Bella Bloom located Sacramento! Thank you!

Kings Basketball Game

Helen and Morris.

Rachael and Allen.

Melissa and Ethan.

Fun time at the Kings basketball game!

Go Thunder!!! Stockton Hockey Game.

We went to a Stockton Thunder hockey game Sunday afternoon! Lots of fun!

Cub Scouts

Ethan made a flashlight fork at Cub Scouts! You squeeze the clothespin and the light turns on so he can see what he is picking up on his fork. Very cool!

My sister and her boys.

My sister and her boys.

Palindrome and Semordnilaps

Palindrome - can be read the same forward and backwards. Examples: 01-02-2010, racecar, kayak, step on no pets.

Not to be confused with:

Semordnilaps - words that read a different word when read backwards. Examples: stressed/desserts, dog/god.

Happy New Year!

Wow! A year has flown by yet again. We had a great New Years Eve dropping the kids off at a friends house for a slumber party while we went out with our friends for dinner and then off to see the Mother Hip's perform. Was that just a couple nights ago? Today Rachael went to the Girl Scout Cookie Rally with her Troop. Fun times tasting cookies. The boys are designing their Pinewood Derby car making it look cool, yet fast.

Snowmen

Ethan brought home his light bulb snowman today. We hung him up with Rachael's from two years ago to take a picture. Dos amigos.

Fun day at school.

Today Rachael's class spent part of the day playing board games. She found someone with her favorite game "Life" and had a blast. Ethan's class went to their "buddy" class of first graders and decorated graham cracker houses. You could smell the sugar as you walked into the room. Good times.

Busy Weekend in Southern California

Rachael and Ethan with our friend Jared.

Ethan on the truck.

Last weekend we drove to Southern California to celebrate the last night of Hanukkah with family and friends. We had a wonderful time Friday night visiting with friends and eating latkes. On Saturday Allen and Ethan helped Sabba out and Ethan got to climb all over the big truck. Saturday night we went to Hollywood and showed the kids Grauman's Chinese Theatre before heading up to the Griffith Observatory. A busy and fun weekend.

Happy Hanukah!

The first night of Hanukah.

Decorating cookies at the Hanukah party Saturday night.

Piano recital Sunday afternoon.

Friday night we celebrated Hanukkah at home with our friend Neola. Saturday night we went to the annual Richardson Hanukkah party. This morning we went to Religious School for more Hanukkah parties and dancing. Rachael and Ethan had their piano recital this afternoon. Then tonight our friends the Benson's came over to light the candles. Whew! So far three wild and crazy nights of Hanukkah!

Super Cold Morning!

Icicles on the house.

I had to break the ice in the water bowl.

Thanks!

What a day...

First, we missed the snow... It snowed a little here and there around us but did not stick so there was nothing to see unless you were there to watch it. Then our internet/email was not working. Thirty minutes with the tech guy to hear it is our computer. Hang up with him, reboot the computer and whalaa, fixed. Then the gas valve on our heater broke. Thankfully the repairman was able to come within an hour and fix it. :) It is nice to have heat when it is 37 degrees outside and only 7 pm. It is supposed to get down to 25 degrees tonight. Burrr without a heater! The last time our heater broke we woke up to a dead fish... see last January for that entry!

Ethan in the morning.

The other morning Ethan was not ready to get up for school. Here he is snuggled within the blanket on the couch. At least he had a good attitude and wasn't a grouch.

Rachael and her tooth.

Rachael lost another baby tooth today during class. It was independent study time so everyone was working on their own thing. The person who sits next to her had gone home sick earlier that morning so no one saw her pull her tooth out. She said it was just hanging so she thought "what the heck" and pulled on it. She got a tissue and went back to work... Apparently when another student had lost his tooth the class made a big to-do about it. The teacher asked the class "haven't you seen someone lose a tooth before?"... She did not want to make a scene.