Celebrating Mimi's birthday!

Mimi came up for the weekend and we got to celebrate her birthday! Happy birthday to my wonderful Mom!

West Sacramento's Earth Day Celebration and Egg Hunt

Fun day at the zoo

Today was a Mommy-Connor-Maddie day and we spent it at the zoo. We had a lovely time walking around, looking at animals, playing, picnicking, and feeding the giraffes! Even Maddie fed the giraffes! She was really into the animals today, wanting to look closely and watch their every move. She was a little scared of the chimps... saying "Mommy, I scared!" and clinging onto me tightly. Overall, it was a beautiful day with my kiddos!

Annual Friends Easter Egg Hunt

Today we had our annual Easter egg hunt with our dear friends. Danielle and Brian hosted us for a delicious barbeque and we had such a nice evening hanging out, chatting, and watching the kids play together. I love our traditions with our friends. We are blessed!

Muck Dogs Baseball

Baseball has continued, but a little slower than we expected. We've been rained out for two games in a row and one practice. For such a dry winter, we're getting our fair share of rain now. I'm thankful for the rain for many reasons, but I know Connor was exctied to get out on the field again tonight! We were short a coach tonight so Mike asked me to sit in as the bench coach... holy moly! I have a whole new respect and appreciation for Michael. That is hard work with some really rambunctious boys. I made sure to let Michael know how much I appreciate what he does... it takes a lot of energy and a lot of patience. He's got the energy and the patience, and he has the passion for coaching. I feel blessed that Connor has such an awesome coach, and the fact that the coach is his dad is just icing on the cake! Here are some pics from the last two games of Connor's fan club:

Easter egg dying

Connor and Maddie had a blast dying Easter eggs on one of my days home with them. They wanted to keep going, but I didn't know what to do with that many hardboiled eggs! Maddie loves them, but no one else in our family is crazy about them, and Connor won't even try them! I promised to make more another day so they could dye more. I really enjoy our days together when we can do fun things like this!

Happy Retirement to Dave and Jill!

Last Friday night we got to party and celebrate the retirement of Michael's dad, Dave. It turned into a celebration of more than that... we celebrated both Jill and Dave being retired, and we celebrated Jill's health and making it through the past year to be able to dance and celebrate such an occasion. There were beautiful speeches (one said from my wonderful hubby!), many friends and family, an energetic band, good food, and delicious wine. The kids were the life of the party, dancing nonstop from when the band started to when the party was shut down! I guess we have some party-animals on our hands! They certainly like to dance ( and they thoroughly enjoyed the chocolate fondue table!)! It was a great celebration of a great man and his hard work throughout his career. Dave and Jill- we wish you all the fun and laughter in this next stage of retirement! We wish you amazing experiences as you travel and see the world, and just as amazing times spent at home with your family and your grandkids who think the world of you!

Connor-Mommy-Giants Date Night

Mallory's boyfriend Anthony got us 2 tickets to one of the preseason Giants games and we planned on suprising Connor by having Michael take him to the game. A few days before the game, Michael's back started really bothering him again and he wasn't able to go. When Michael asked me if I wanted to take Connor, all the excuses popped into my head.... it's a school night, it's such a long drive, parking is expensive, it's past his (and my) bedtime, etc. As I thought more about it, I thought about how much fun Connor would have at the game and how special it might be for him and I to have alone time enjoying a night of baseball. I just finished taking a 5 week Love and Logic Parenting training at my work, and it stresses the importance of taking quality time with your kids to build a relationship, and how that relationship is the foundation for parenting. That solidifed my decision to go regardless of any excuses! We told Connor the night before the game and he was ecstatic! I packed our Giants gear so we could change in the car after work/day care and we were on our way! We had the best time! We talked about life and sang our hearts out to the Frozen soundtrack on the way there. Connor impressed me with his math facts while we were stuck in traffic on the Bay Bridge. He held my hand as we walked through the park. He shared his hot cocoa and pretzel with me while resting his head on my shoulder. He explained different plays to me and cheered loudly with me. He kept his mitt on his hand in case a foul ball came our way and assured me that he would protect me from the ball. We sang "Take me out to the ball game" loudly and we danced to the music between innings. I can't count the number of times he told me he loved me or randomly said "Thank you for taking me tonight." It was a magical night... a night I could just focus on Connor and share his excitement and passion for baseball. He's a remarkable kid and I feel so, so, so very grateful to be his mom.