Halloween 2012!

Shane was a Knight in Shining Armor :)  Totally his idea.    Julia was a Pirate Princess. She walked around saying "aye aye captain!"   Shane wasn't very cooperative with the pic taking this time for some reason.... so there are more of Julia.....   Very fun, watched Daddy carve the pumpkin, Shane imitated every move, costume time, over to Grandma and Grandpa's for dinner and some trick or treating, said hi to the neighbors black cat!, more trick or treating, a pic of our scary pumpkin outside at night, and the Halloween (almost) full moon!   Ended it with some spooky old-school Scooby Doo "the mummy" episode and that was that....Til next year, of course!

Out like lights after a fun night at Scooters Jungle - and LOMBARDI RANCH!

                                                   Big brother always helping little sister     :)

                                                           On top of the hay stack!

The kind of Fall pics I LOVE.

Its not 'back east' kind of Fall, but its very slowly gettin there.  :)   I love the joy radiating off of our kiddos in these pics....  XO

Fall pictures and Shane's Kindergarten Picture!

well, posed ones at Picture People....  not 'real' Fall pics.  As soon as its NOT 100+ flippin degrees here & the leaves are actually changing, I will take some of them outside.  :)

Disneyland!

We took the kids to Disneyland the weekend AFTER Labor Day - highly recommended. We only waited 10mins for Pirates and walked on most other rides. Very little waiting. Julia has a more adventurous spirit then Shane, he is definitely our reserved, cautious one. She wants to ride everything and cant wait to ride Splash Mountain - she's got a few yrs to go, but she didn't want to hear that.  We were right in the middle of the fireworks this time and saw Tinkerbell and Dumbo FLY near the castle. We've never been that close before. The kids, Shane especially, LOVED the fireworks!  Shane cheered, clapped, laughed - both Eric and I said we have never seen him THAT excited before. It sounds hokey and whatever but, my eyes filled up with tears seeing him that happy. I could talk about the low-points but if you have done Dland for 14 hours with children, you already know what they are.   ;)     (I didn't take my camera, these were taken w/a phone.)  Better then nothing!   Can't wait for our annual Disneyland Christmas-time visit!  It'll be here before we know it.

Shane's First Day of Kindergarten!

Shane started Kindergarten at Castaic Elementary School today!  His teacher's name is Miss Giovannelli. Shane said she is really nice. I was SO eager to pick him up from school, it was a long day without him. Julia missed him today, too!  Luckily, Eric went into work late today so he could go along to drop Shane off at his first day of school. I can't believe our little boy is already going to elementary school!  When I picked him up he said he "We did art, talked, had lunch, laid down for a rest time, it was good.  at the beginning, some boy was crying because his missed his mommy.  but I didn't cry, I was brave."  I'm glad that's the way he remembers it.  lol    When we kissed him goodbye, he asked if he could walk us to the door. (with big tears in his eyes, threatening to fall any second) The teacher very nicely said no, that the kids needed to stay sitting on the carpet. He accepted that, but starred at us as we left.  Thank GOD he never started crying!  After school, we surprised him with a "First Day prize" - ie Blue Power Rangers mask and tool set.  He was SO excited! 

Summer Pictures

Our Little Girl

Shane is FIVE!

A hot July day at the park - but still cute as ever.

A bittersweet playdate with our friends before they moved back to Texas.

Trike-A-Thon for St. Jude's!

The kids participated in a trike-a-thon in support of the children at St. Jude's. It was very hot, about 95F, but they pedaled hard and had fun. Shane is starting to understand charity, not just thinking of others but DOING something for others. No act of kindness is ever wasted.  :)

Goodbye to Preschool!

Shane's last day of preschool was June 6th. They did a pre-K program for parents, family, etc. It was adorable! My favorite part was Shane's speaking part - "Please stand for the pledge of allegiance!" and when they sang "oh we're ready, oh we're ready, Kindergarten here we come. we are looking so happy cuz school will be fun!" he was a little sad to say goodbye to Miss Nikki and Miss Trisha, but he is excited for Kindergarten in August! They ended their last day with an ice cream party. Very cute, very fun..... and bittersweet for mom and dad. :)

                             Shane and his good friend Elliot. They have been friends since the age of 2-1/2.