February 28, 2009

Just wanted to post and let everyone know that on Saturday, February 28th, my baby brother is getting married! Yes, Married! :) Jeremy Winston Adam Wood will be wed to Tracy Gamez. I am heart sick at not being able to attend, but I couldn't get a waver from the doctor to fly. Still just wanted in some small way to help celebrate.

  Dear Jesus,

   Please watch over Jeremy and Tracy as they make this life commitment to one another. Help them to understand the depth of their vows both to each other and to You. Lord, guide their day to day, their dreams, goals, realities, mountains, and valleys. May they come to know what Your love means as they learn to love each other. Father, please pour out your grace and mercy. Cover them as they begin this new life together. Help them to know how much I love them...more importantly how much you love them.

                        Amen 

                                                                       

Gymnastics

Getting ready to do a back flip
Jumping into the pit!
Climbing out of the pit
Practice on the bars
Climbing the rope for the first time

While my parents were here we got to stay and watch Kaden during gymnastics. Dad remembered to bring his camera (since I ALWAYS forget) so we finally got some pictures of Kaden doing his thing. He and Caleb both LOVE gymnastics and are really learning some great techniques. I'm just so excited for everything that they learn to do, since I still can't do a cartwheel! :) 

  We didn't get any pictures of Caleb since dad hadn't bought his new camera yet, but I'll TRY to remember next week as it'll be Caleb's first time with out Mommy! :( I'm so sad to give up the mommy and me class but figure it's better to do it know then wait until the baby comes...so my little man is growing on up *sigh*. 

  Hope everyone has a good start to their week...oh wait it's Wednesday...hope everyone has a good mid-week! :) Jesus loves you

T-Ball!!!

My little man all grown up and ready for baseball!
"Home run!"
He's got his game face on. 

Well, we're getting Kaden all signed up for t-ball this year. He's got his sports physical next week and then we should be all ready. Try-outs...excuse me "skill assessment" isn't until the beginning of April and then he should find out what team he's on (our neighbor is coaching and is requesting Kaden for his team) and then practice and games start! I'm so excited. This is bringing back painful memories of my own childhood ( I was NOT good at organized sports) and precious memories of watching my little brothers play t-ball...Chris for the love of the game and Jeremy for the free hot dog at the end :) But those are stories for another day! :)

  Matt took Kaden out shopping today to get him all ready! I'm so proud of him and just can't believe my baby is old enough for baseball! *Sigh* where does the time go! 

Been Away to Long

I realized today we've been away from Texas to long...

  Caleb: (playing with his toys like cowboys) " Yay - Whooo!"

   Mommy: "No, Hunny it's  'Ye-Haw!"

  Caleb: "Nope, Yay - Whoooo!" :)

Family Time

Mom and I at the aquarium. Isn't she beautiful!
We took Dad and Mom out to our favorite restraunt in Carmel. I just love this shot of them. 
Kaden and Papa playing in the maze at the Denise the Menace park...yes my dad wore his white cowboy hat ALL over California!  :) He was so easy to find! 
Papa and his grandsons on the train
One more picture by the statue
Mom and I being showered with love on Valentines day...we all got gifts but the boys opened everyones for them.
Kaden "posing" by the ocean on our drive along Big Sur
Not a great picture of me...but wanted to give you a view of the baby belly! We're 30 weeks now.
It rained off and on most of the time Mom and Dad were here. Matt and Dad got some great shots of the rain out over the ocean
More rain off in the distance
Our one and only "whole family" shot.
Papa, Grandma, Kaden and Caleb

  Well, it's with a heavy heart that I look through and post these pictures. Mom and Dad headed back to Texas today. Every moment of the last week was precious, protected, and sweet...but man the goodbyes are SO hard. Kaden and I just kind of clung to each other and cried and I explained to him that saying goodbye is one of the hardest things we have to do in life. Still, the time together is well worth the pain of separation. 

  That being said, the week was a blast. We did all of the normal sight seeing tours, but were able to squeeze in lots of fabulous visits with dear friends from when my family lived here 10 years ago, lots of Starbucks stops, eating out, open houses, and fabulous 3-4 mile walks each day (rain or shine!) :)  Such a blessing. Mom and I even got to get away for some girl shopping time, and although Matt and Dad did get rained out of their amazing sky box on Pebble Beach's 17th green, they got some good time together too. 

  Just wanted to share a few pictures and tell Mom and Dad...I LOVE YOU AND MISS YOU SO MUCH!

Still here

Just wanted to pop in and say hello. My mom is reading to Kaden, Caleb's down for his nap, Matt and my dad are at the Pebble Beach Pro Am Golf tournament (We were given tickets by some friends!!! Thank you Greg and Melissa!) ...unfortunately it's rainy and cold and we're praying that they won't catch pneumonia! But I guess that's the price you pay to see the "Stars" play golf. :) I'm trying desperately to stop time so that my parents won't have to leave, but it seems to march cruelly on. I'll post some pictures after they head home...till then hope everyone had a good Valentines, and knows that they are loved!

And the winner is...

Matt...surprise, surprise! But Kaden and I deserve mega bonus points for having much better attitudes about losing at Monopoly. Needless to say, Kaden and I are done playing that game for a while! Actually, I quit when things were looking desperate and under the excuse that I need to get cleaning done...which I did because my parents are coming tomorrow!!! Yippee!!! WooHoo!!! So excited! It's been a LONG 6 months and I'm so excited to get to hold them close tomorrow. Oh, and the boys and Matt are excited too! :) I'm sure we'll have pictures to post over the next couple of days. Hope everyone has a good week. 

Update on Monopoly

Kaden is holding his own! He's quite the little business man...Now mommy is going to lose to both her boys. :)

Family Game Night

So...Matt and I started a game of Monopoly on Saturday just for the fun of it...although fun is probably not a good word for it since, I confess, I am a poor loser and since I almost always lose it's never a pleasant experience...However, Kaden for the most part enjoyed rolling the dice for me and laughing with me whenever Daddy landed in jail. Unfortunately, it did prove quite stressful for him as well, since he is not a good loser either...must run in the family. We decided to try and play one more time allowing Kaden to play as his own thingy and Kaden and I pinky swearing to have better attitudes. But suddenly, Kaden got very upset and started to cry...

  We asked him what was wrong and he said, "what if the police men come and get me for playing the game!?" 

   "Kaden, why would the police men come get you?"

  " Because it says on the box that I have to be 8 before I can play!" :)

  

A Boy and A Stage

I just came across this video of Kaden busting out some sweet dance moves in down town Monterey. We're outside of Bubba Gumps with Jennie (yes, from the movie Forest Gump) and the restaurant has these wooden crates that the boys have adopted as their own personal stage whenever we're down there. Anyways, this is what you get when you cross Kaden with a chance to perform! :) He gets all his talent from his parents...who also can't dance! :)

  And just in case anyone was wondering what' on the schedule for this weekend....it's Costco again! :) Somehow, I always end up grocery shopping on the weekends. However, I do hope to get in a walk along the coast and some family time...can't spend all my time at Costco you know! :) Hope everyone has a good weekend. Jesus loves you!

What Mommies Are Good For

Quote from Kaden this morning..."Mommies are good for goodnight kisses and making breakfast!"

Sunday night rambling

I'm not sure what Caleb's pointing to I just like the expression on his face :)
Sitting by the fountain...it's the only place we could get them to sit and take a picture since it was in the shade

Ok, we found on more shady place to take a picture
Pointing out the lemons in the lemon tree
I love this one that Matt took of the dew drop on the flower
  Not much going on just felt the need to say hello to everyone. Spent a quiet and semi-productive weekend spending time with the Van Hook boys and organizing baby clothes. It astounds me how much stuff we've accumulated since having children! We've been very blessed and I'm excited it's our turn to share the blessing! :) 

  Matt's finishing up some homework (I do NOT miss homework) for the start of another week. Not sure what we'll be up to this next week...probably more organizing and purging...This nesting syndrome is driving me crazy but at least it helps me be productive. 

  As for the pictures, we took these last weekend when we visited a local mission in Carmel. Matt's having fun and getting really good with his new camera so thought I'd share and brag on him a bit. This weekend was not so sunny...in fact it's rained for the last four days...but I'm not complaining rain is still better then snow! :) 

  Hope you all have a great start to your week. Jesus loves you. 

  

What are you doing?

I'm headed to Cosco (grocery warehouse) on this fine Saturday. What are you up too? :)

Boys day out vs. Moms day in

Just thought I'd share a quick Kaden quip with you.  To be fair, I do like cleaning and some may say I'm slightly obsessed with it :) that being said here is the following conversation:

  Kaden: " Caleb wouldn't it be fun to go fishing! We can't go fishing in the ocean because we're to small and the fishes will pull us in, but we can go fishing in the lake, and that would be fun." Turning to me..."Mom, someday Dad is going to take us fishing for a fun boys day out, and you...you can stay home and catch up on laundry! Won't that be fun!" :)

  

Date Day

Kaden's shot of the model blimp

Kaden's favorite ship in the museum
My little Fireman checking out the bay
Posing on the huge ship anchor
Kaden telling mommy to "pose"
My Fireman turned Pirate got to hold a real bird down on the warf...he wan't real thrilled but did it long enough for me to get a picture. 

Kaden and I got to go on a date Sunday, his choice as to activity. We had a special day down by Fisherman's warf. He wanted to spend it first at the Maritime museum where we looked at all the old model ships, played with the horns of the lighthouse, and watched a short movie on the blimp. Then we walked down Fisherman's warf and looked in the pirate store and wandered with the people. At the end of the warf there was a man with about 11 birds for people to meet and hold. We left the warf and headed to Target (where else) for Kaden to spend some of his Christmas money. I was so proud, he's turning out to be a bargain hunter just like me! :) We had a great time just being together, and I loved getting to see and hear about the world from my little man.

 Hope everyone had a good Monday. Jesus loves you!

January 17, 2009

View of the Pacific
A random blimp flying over Pebble Beach
Happy face on the beach
Drums....
...or hat
You decide

Just wanted to send all of you in the frozen part of the country a glimpse of what January is looking like in California! :)

San Francisco

View of San Francisco from the Full House hill top! ( the opening scene of Full House)
The crookedest street in the world...Lambard street

City of San Francisco
View of the bay from Pier 39 (Golden Gate in the background)
Kaden on the carasol (sp) on Pier 39...definitely the highlight of the day for the boys (couldn't get a picture of Caleb where he was riding)
Brothers at the Palace of the Fine Arts
Jennie and Michelle
Highlight of the trip for Jennie...this place is from her favorite movie Heart and Souls
Matt got a great picture of the MOON rising above the city just as the sun was going down on the other side of the Golden Gate! It was huge and we later found out it was the biggest moon of the year.
Highlight of the day for Kaden. At first glimpse of the Golden Gate he exclaimed, "This is the FIRST time I've seen it in my WHOLE LIFE!!!!" 
Kaden by a cross section of one of the cables that hold up the bridge
Beautiful night and beautiful girl

Our big trip with Jennie was up to San Francisco. It was a long day but we had a blast and thanks to Matt's exceptional driving skills and ability to navigate we not only survived the driving and the city but go to see so many parts...weird, beautiful, scenic, and well...it is San Francisco so you can imagine all that we got to see! :)