Friday night

Friday night we brought Ethan to the Sacramento City Cemetery for the Posting of the Colors. The Cub/Boy Scouts assist in placing flags on all of the grave sites of Veterans. This is our second year doing it and feel it is an important part of Memorial Day weekend. Unfortunately someone hit Allen while he was driving to meet us there. Thankfully he is okay, but missed the event.

Busy Weekend

A week ago on Friday night we went to the school carnival. The kids had a great time playing games and hanging out with their friends. I should have taken pictures! This Friday both kids received STAR Awards at their school assemblies. The theme for award was honesty. Great job kids!

Cub Scout Bridging

Ethan receiving his new hat and kerchief.

Ethan "bridged" from Bears to Webelos tonight. He earned the Bear patch last month but this month is the official ceremony to name him a Webelos. He is looking forward to all of the neat things he will be doing the next year with the Cub Scouts.

Cast

Rachael does have a hairline fracture in her wrist. We got a regular cast on this morning. She had a choice of hot pink, purple or clear (white). I will post a picture next week what it looks like after going camping for the weekend and having her friends sign it.

Happy Mother's Day

For Mother's Day Allen and the kids made me a wonderful breakfast. Ethan made me a frame with his picture. I received the new darts that I requested too. Yaaa Mother's Day!

Open House

Tonight was Open House at the kids' school. It was nice seeing all of the projects they have been working on since August. We appreciate the work the teachers do to get ready for Open House. I am impressed with how much art is still incorporated into the projects. Both Ethan and Rachael enjoy most of the projects and definitely have learned a lot.

Ethan wrote a letter to us. In the letter he thanks me for the good meals I make. He thanks Allen for "giving birth to" him. I think we need to have another talk with him.

Soccer Injury...

Rachael has a possible navicular fracture (wrist fracture). She will be in the splint for 1 - 2 weeks then another x-ray will be taken. If they see healing then she will be put in a hard cast for 6 - 8 weeks. If there is no change it was just a sprain and she should be healed. The scaphoid bone is hard to see on the x-ray but if it was fractured you would be able to see the healing.

National Elementary Honor Society

Tonight we went to the National Elementary Honor Society Induction Ceremony. Rachael was an Inductee and Ethan presented the flag with his Cub Scout Pack for the ceremony. We are very proud of both of them.

Space Station

We took pictures of the Space Station moving over our house this morning! It was viewable for four minutes! Very neat!

Darts!

Tonight we went for a walk with Katie then played a good game of darts. The kids love the game and did pretty good. Mo and Grandpa came on Wednesday and have been hanging out with us. This weekend we have a soccer game and want to shop at the local Farmers Market. Lots of fun things to do and the weather is beautiful!

USS Pampanito

Ethan and Josh

Allen and Ethan spent the night with the Cub Scouts on the USS Pampanito docked in San Francisco. They took around 146 pictures within 12 hours and they slept for maybe six of those hours. As I sort through the pictures we will post more. They had a great time!

Artichokes

Take that you pokey artichoke!

Ethan helped me make dinner after doing his homework and playing in the rain . Here he is "getting revenge" on the artichoke that poked him at the grocery store. He liked cooking the artichokes but not eating them.

April already!!

We have had a busy couple weeks since our last birthday post. Eight nights of Passover which I just posted about. We have had Cub Scout meetings, Girl Scout meetings, piano lessons, indoor soccer games, early mornings at school and a garage sale too! On Friday Allen went to school with the kids for their Watch DOG program (Dads on Guard, I think). He spent the day helping out and spending time with the kids at school. I even packed him a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Rachael's Troop picked the SPCA for their Bronze Award project. Now we are getting ready for another busy week.

Passover

So Passover has come and gone but not forgotten. A week of matzah, matzah, matzah to remember our plight out of slavery. This year Rachael was able to read some of the Hebrew for the Seder and Ethan is getting the hang of the four questions. Now we move on and count the Omer, the 49 days until the next holiday of Shavuot when the Torah was given on Mount Sinai. There is never a lack of holidays!

Happy Birthday Ethan!

Happy Birthday Ethan! Ethan is now 9 years old! At his last doctor's appointment he weighed 73 lbs and was 52 inches tall with his shoes on. Today we will measure his height again. Here is a picture of him with his cake last night. He woke up with his friends who are sleeping over and ate a nice and sugary breakfast.

3rd grade boys!

Boys sure do eat a lot! At 7 pm I was thinking we ordered way too many pizzas. At 9:30 pm when they had seconds I was glad we had ordered four very large pizzas. Now just after 11 pm when they are having thirds I am down to a few slices of pepperoni. You would think they did not have cake, ice cream, gold fish, carrots... The movie is over, lights are out but Ben 10 is on and they are talking about baseball, farts and Bakugan powers. Oh to be a 3rd grade boy. Allen and I thought it was funny at dinner when the boys started to shout out shapes from geometry (parallelogram, triangle, ...). Midnight the tv turns off and it is quiet time... let's see how early they wake up.

Ethan

Ethan hanging out at home.

What happens when Ethan makes his own lunch. I did not set this photo up. This is how it was left by the master chef Ethan.

Artsy Pictures of Rachael

I took a few pictures of Rachael practicing the piano the other day. I like them.

District Pinewood Derby

Today Ethan's car raced at the District Pinewood Derby. He ranked 9th out of 18 cars from his level (Bears). He did great! Only four Bear cars made it the District race from his Pack.

Rest in Peace ~ Miles Grand

Today our beloved Akita Miles passed away. Born on Washington's Birthday, February 22, 1997 Miles came into our lives. He was a great protector, loving family member and gentle beast. At the ripe dog age of around 92 he lived a full life. He went on hikes, camping trips, to soccer games, show and tell in pre-school and trips to visit Bubbe and Saba in Los Angeles. He excelled in his dog obedience class and all of the trainers loved him. We will also remember him as the challah thief and for getting the bowls out of the kitchen sink and licking them clean. He will be greatly missed by his adopted sister Katie Rudder Grand, his human family Allen, myself, Rachael and Ethan, and by all of our friends and family who loved him. Goodbye to our beloved Miles.