Patriotic Performance

Matt's class was part of a Kindergarten performance in March, centered around America and many historic figures in our history.  The students were divided up into about 6 groups, and Matt was part of the Martin Luther King, Jr. section.

No idea what Matt was saying here, but I am sure it was pure gold!

The performance was great and the students did an amazing job!

After the performance, Matt and his friends Sergio and Caleb had to do the wall photo shoot!  Luckily Jonathan was willing to sit this one out.

Casino Night!

I love being a member of Juniors, and apparently jumped in with more passion and enthusiasm than I thought!  I was one of two women in charge of our biggest fundraiser of the year.  Thankfully, it's a two year position, so next go round I'll know more about what to do and what not to do!  This year, the theme was Saturday Night Fever.  It was a blast, or so I hear!  ;)  I was a bit more busy with making sure things went smoothly than being in the moment, but it was a wonderful night, and a big success for our club and our community.  

Matt tried on Nick's wig for that evening!  Not sure where the salute fits in.

Here's our poster promoting the evening!

Somehow I was too busy to make sure Nick and I got a picture together, but at least our neighbor Tara pulled me aside for a girls' shot!

My planning partner, and our club President helped me get through the night and actually smile a bit along the way with the occasional bumps that came along.  

It was truly a rewarding evening, seeing all of the planning and hard work come together and make for a successful fundraiser.  Now, to top it next year!

Birthday Party!

In March, one of Matt's friends and baseball teammates had his birthday party with the team.  Everyone was invited and the boys had a blast!  One added incentive was the Angry Birds theme!  Matt was in heaven between the theme and the bounce houses at the party!

Here he is with his friends, Waylon and Noah!

School Wall

At Matt's school, they have a student of the week, and they bring in things all week, including a collage of pictures telling about themselves.  After one of his friends brought in a picture of himself and others on the wall outside of school, Matt was insistent on taking one of his own.  Of course, his little brother couldn't resist pitching in to help Matt make that happen.  

Before long, it will be Jonathan, the Kindergartner, wanting his picture taken on the wall of his new school!

Lemons to Aid

We haven't been as active through Lemons to Aid recently, but we were rewarded for our past projects by the founder of the charity, and fellow Pearce High School alumna.  They were offering bracelets, to have and share with others.  The boys were excited to get their bracelets!  They have started saving money in their piggy banks, with four sections (donate, invest, save, and spend).  They have donated to some great things in the short time we have had the banks.  

Football Practice

One of the boys' favorite bedtime delays is playing catch with Daddy.  One day I just had to get the camera out because Matt had it all figured out and was making some great catches!

The facial expressions and exaggerations were great!

The tongue makes the throw a perfect spiral, right?

Photobomber!

Our silly boys!

Great catch, Matt!

The new touchdown dance?

Not sure what was going on here, but I think it was a wink.

The kicker needed some practice too.

Watching football, while playing football, while avoiding going to bed...Heaven!

Time to practice throwing

Baseball to End the Year!

Matt and some of his friends signed up for baseball camp right after Christmas.  The high school hosted it and had quite a turnout!  The boys loved it!  

The first day, Matt wore his Perry shirt, which turned out to be a good thing as Jonathan and I were able to keep an eye on him.

They ventured to the football field to practice sliding.

This was the beginning of the demise of every right knee of his pants!  They taught him the right way to slide, "the figure 4", and he hasn't been the same since this day!

Looks like a lineup of some sort!

They played a mock game in the outfield, and Matt was loving it!

Matt's in the middle talking ball with the boy behind him.

The camp was so fun for him and his friends.  Can't wait for the next one!

Christmas fun!

In case you were confused the last few days, yes, I am THAT far behind!  Here's our Christmas post.

We drove up to Sacramento for Christmas again this year.  We stayed with my mom and things worked out well with the accommodations, since we wore the boys out most days and they would wind down fairly quickly at night, sleeping in the same room.

I bought the boys gingerbread man kits this year, but alas, didn't read the label.  So, Jonathan ended up not being able to eat his, but we made up for it with some ginger cookies my mom had on hand.

Matt tried to act like he wasn't having fun, but even with his head tilted down, there's a glimpse of a smile!

He was pretty excited about his finished product.

Jonathan saved most of his decorations for his ginger cookies he was able to eat (since they had no traces of nuts!).  

As is the family tradition, we all packed in the car and headed over to the Fox's house for Christmas Eve.  Cousins from each side of the family were there.  As usual, Kathy had a crafty idea to occupy and entertain the kids for a bit.

Jonathan wasn't too keen on wearing a t-shirt to protect his sweater, but he was all about frosting an ice cream cone!

After dinner, it was time for the gift giving portion of the evening!

Kathy offered the boys some cookies and ice cream.  Think they were excited?

 

Christmas morning at my moms, and the boys had some new hexbug entertainment!  They were very excited to break in their new toys.

One more stop in the gift giving/family visits on Christmas night.  We stopped off at my Aunt Trudy's house for some dinner and a little more gift giving.  I think the boys were beyond tired at this point!

San Francisco!!!

While we were up in Sacramento for Christmas, we took the kids to San Francisco to explore a little for a day.

On the ride in, we took the Golden Gate so we could really give them the true experience!

Once we got there, the boys put on their silly faces!

Silly Matt!

We took in some aquarium time.

 The hands on stuff definitely went over the best!

A trip to the Galapagos!

Then we did something none of us had done... we went for a ride on the cable cars!  The boys LOVED it!  It was a good time!  The views were amazing and it felt great to do something different.  We were so excited about our family adventure, we even took the wrong car back and wound up walking around a bit.  

The views were amazing!

Coit Tower

Our cable car adventure!

The boys keep asking to go back, and after spending some time recently, with their third cousins who live just outside The City, we may be honoring their request!