Crack

And...now we can add "accidentally throwing a baseball over the backyard fence and shattering the neighbor's bedroom window" to our long list of Little Boy Shenanigans.

The sound of glass shattering outside is NOT what you want to hear while you are making dinner.  I was scared to look!  I really didn't want it to be a window!    

The culprit this time was Riley who immediately burst into tears because he was convinced he would have to somehow pay for a new window with his own money.   

Instead, he and Steve went next door together to tell our neighbor about the window.  (He will also be writing them an apology letter and doing some extra chores around the house to work off his "debt.")

Thankfully, our neighbor was more than gracious. 

Never a dull moment around here. 

Overheard in our House

Last night when I was putting Jonah to bed he said something about how awesome it would be if we had a bunch of money and we could buy a mansion.  I told him that I actually would not want to live in a mansion because it would be more than we needed.  I said that I'd rather give all the extra money away to someone else who needed it.  That got him thinking and suddenly he became an amazing visionary with a plan for the future.  It went something like this....

I'm going to be in a rock band, called Peace.  The lyrics will all be appropriate and positive.  With all of the money that I earn from Peace, I am going to start a home for homeless people called Peace House.  It will be right next door to our house so when people want to come and stay at Peace House, they'll come over to our house to get the keys.  Peace House will have some really big rooms upstairs that have lots and lots of beds in there.  There will also be a kitchen (with lots of food), a dining room, and a room for a TV.  If any kids come to Peace House they will stay in a room just for kids so that they can make friends.  That room will have lots of toys in it.  We should put all of our toy cars in that room because we don't play with those anymore.  When people come to Peace House, we will give them $100 per week for the first three weeks to help them out while they look for a job.  Then, after that, they'll have to pay $1.00 per week to stay there.  Hopefully they will have a job when they leave and won't need to stay at Peace House anymore.

What do you think of Jonah's plan?  Sounds like a kingdom playground to me!  

Unrelated to that, this afternoon, Nicolas and Riley told me what they are going to do when they grow up.  I loved that their future included one another.  Those boys have a pretty spectacular bond.  I hope it never goes away.   

First, we are going to go to Hawaii to hang out on the beach (and in the hotel).
Then, we are going to go to Colorado to practice snowboarding for the Olympics.
Next, we are going to go to Nevada so we can visit Jalon (a kid who was in their class last year and moved).
Then, we are going to go to St. Louis to play on the St. Louis Cardinals for one year.
Then, we'll go to Chicago and practice snowboarding some more.
Then, we'll compete at the Olympics in snowboarding.  If we don't win a medal, we'll practice some more and try again at the next Olympics.
If we do win a medal, we'll move to where Notch lives (the guy who started Minecraft) and we will be video game nerds for a long time.
When we are old, we'll watch football and baseball and movies until we die.     

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

Merry Christmas!

I hope you all have had a wonderful time of celebration with family and friends this month.  I must say that having a December without working - especially at a job where December is an intensely busy month - was kind of nice!  I still managed to have a few patches of stress this year, but nothing like what I've endured in the past.  I'm thankful for that.  

Here are a few photo highlights from Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  We stayed home this year on both days, lounged around in our jammies on Christmas Day, and just enjoyed being together.   

Jonah's letter to Santa that he left under the mini-tree in his room, along with a veggie taco and some water.  Heehee.  How would you answer his questions?!

Three handsomes ready for Christmas Eve service.

My dad and my mom came over for dinner on Christmas Eve.  My dad came to church with us after dinner.

Love them!

Jonah singing Silent Night at church.  I cried.  That song always gets me.

Sweet Nicolas.

These two aren't as innocent as they look!  But they sure were cute with their candles.

After church we tracked Santa for a little while on Norad which was super fun for the boys.  Nicolas had a map out on the table so he could find all the countries.  Once the kids were asleep, the presents came out.  I love our tree this year!

The boys each got some new bey blades

and new LEGO sets.

Nicolas got football cards and Riley got baseball cards.  Nicolas sorted his cards by team before putting them in his binder.

Minecraft paper cut-outs made for hours of self-entertainment and focus

Minecraft swords and stuffed animals.

Bro-bros

Some of Nicolas' loot

and Jonah's

and Riley's.

A snuggly selfie moment with Riley.

After presents, Papa came over for Christmas brunch and some play time.  We snuck in a family photo in our matching jammies (opening new pajamas is one of our Christmas Eve traditions).  

What were some of your Christmas highlights and traditions?  We'd love to know! 

Minecraft Halloween

Here they are.  The costumes that I spent weeks making and the boys spent approximately 5 minutes wearing on Halloween.

Minecraft Madness: Jonah as a creeper, Riley as Steve, and Nicolas and a Wolf

Imagine how delighted I was carrying around those boxes as they trick-or-treated in their regular clothes. 

On the positive side...
They really did LOVE their costumes.
And I think they all really appreciated the effort I put into making them.
And they did indeed help me make them. (Jonah made Riley's pick axe entirely by himself, as well as a good portion of his own costume.) 
And duct tape was on sale at Beverly's. 
And I have always wanted the three of them to dress up as a theme. 

Overall, not bad for my first time making costumes.  But I'm pretty sure that my first time was also my last. 

The boys also had fun carving pumpkins a few days before Halloween.

 

Nicolas' (aka Mommy's) "Velcome," Jonah's vampire, and Riley's (aka Daddy's) Headless man

So, good-bye Halloween.  Frankly, you stressed me out too much this year.  Something about the candy and a certain child of mine's hyperactivity (Is it the dyes in the candy?  That IS the question!  Did you know that those dyes in our candy are outlawed in Europe?  We're going dye-free over here for a few weeks so I'll let you know if we see any changes). 

Friends: Old and New

Today I was missing Sacramento friends.  Having been at The Harvest Carnival at Ninos Park for the last twelve consecutive years, it felt really strange to be missing the thirteenth installment of that special event today.

Had I not just been at The GreenHouse on Thursday, delivering some donated couches for the new Clubhouse, I probably would have been there today.  But, it was too much for me to do that drive again today.  And actually, I'm thinking that it all worked out the way it was supposed to:  Me with my family in my new town, continuing to plant roots here and nurture new relationships;  The GreenHouse, growing strong on its own, developing new routines, carrying on community traditions.  (Though, I'm not gonna lie. It was hard for me to not be there today.  I would have loved to have said hello to all of the parents and given squeezes to all of the kids.).   

In spite of some sadness over missing friends from The GreenHouse today, I was moved with gratitude for the new friendships that are being formed here in Oakland.  One very special friendship that is growing is between Riley and his buddy from school Jaelyn.  They both love each other to pieces.   We caught them sharing a chair, arms around each other, after their soccer game today.  Sneaky Nicolas photo-bombed the picture, but I still love it and all that it says about how far we've come this past year. 

 
They couldn't have known how much my heart needed this moment today! 

Gandalf vs. King

Jonah's has a new obsession: stop animation.  Hours of creativity, story writing, set designing, and self-entertainment make this App the best 99 cents I ever spent!   

Here's a sample of one of his latest creations.  It's called "Gandalf vs. King: Fight at the Casel."  Love the spelling.  This short clip (it's only 12 seconds long) is made up 57 different pics that he took with my iphone.  Pretty cool!  Can't wait to see the creations that come from this new hobby.    

Camp Stratton - Week Three (4th of July)

The biggest highlight from Week Three of Camp Stratton was going camping with friends on the 4th of July at China Camp State Park.  The boys were in heaven: dirt, sand, water, lizards, s'mores, scary stories, campfire, and excellent friends.  What more could you ask for?  Minus slipping on a rock and falling hard on my bum (and therefore bruising my tailbone for the next 3 weeks), I had a pretty terrific time, too! 

Pics courtesy of the fabulous DeAnna Gallardo   

 

 

 

 

Camp Stratton - Week Two

Highlights from Week Two of Camp Stratton.

Baseball at Brookdale Park on a beautiful summer evening.

Lindsay Wildlife Museum with the Read family.

Playdate with Nicolas and Riley's friend from school and fort making in the backyard.  "The Dodge Ball Club."  

Praying in Color - Parable of the Sower

A day up at The GreenHouse for me while the kids did a day of childcare in SF.  Loved seeing this in the music room at the GH!

Camp Stratton - Week One

A few highlights from Week One of Camp Stratton (which by the way, is not exactly going as I had planned in my how-to video, but we're in the ballpark so I'm considering that a victory). 

Father's Day breakfast in Oakland before heading up to Elk Grove.  

A visit to the Lawrence Hall of Science in Berkeley.

First day of swim lessons.

A trip to the UC Botanical Gardens with Jonah's buddy from school and his family.

A Playdate with Nicolas and Riley's buddy from school which included a trip to the library's Paper Airplane workshop.

Dinner at Jack London Square for Mommy and Daddy's 16th Anniversary.