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Thursday, February 25, 2010

Trike-A-Thon for Tyler's school...


Tyler's preschool is doing a Trike-A-Thon to raise money to build a swing set, a half fence to go around it, a concrete bike trail and bikes for the playground. On March 20th the kids will do as many laps as they can on their bikes, trikes and scooters. We are doing flat donations to make it easier. If you would like to help, let me know, money is due by March 11th.

Thanks!

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Running away...

So I started back into a new running routine this morning. Things went well and it will hopefully get me back into shape.

The first goal is the Sacramento Zoo Zoom on April 11th for a 5K race. My SIL Virginia mentioned it and asked me if I wanted to run with her, more like we'll be running at the same place at the same time, but probably not together. Being all into running this morning, I went ahead and registered, of the non-refundable type. Here we go!

Also keeping along the motivational agenda, I've made myself a goal calendar for the year.

June 6th: Nike Women's Festival 5K
July 3rd: Folsom or Sacramento Firecracker 10K
September 12th: Sacramento Buffalo Stampede 10 miler
October 3rd: Sacramento "Cow Town"(name is changing) 1/2 marathon
November 7th: Apple Hill Harvest Run~not sure what distance yet 3.5 or 8.5 mile
November 25th: Run to Feed the Hungry 10K
January 2011: ALS Association- Roseville 10K

It's doable, really it is. Everything is spaced nicely, with good training intervals between.

So I'll have to start saving now for those entry fees and a new pair of shoes that I'll probably need by May or so.

Send some positive thoughts that my body holds out and hopefully lets go of a few pounds along the way.

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Playing at the Park and Sledding...

Thursday we headed out for some sun at the park. Thanks to soccer we have a new favorite park, Madera Park in Citrus Heights. It's fenced in, although there isn't a gate, but only one entrance. Big and small toys, swings and room to run make it great for everyone.
Monkey boy Ty climbing around.

Learning his monkey skills from Cody.

Whee!
Thursdays other funny revolved around breakfast.
Ty came to me as I was getting ready to see what was for breakfast.
Told him I wasn't sure yet, we'll have to see what's in the kitchen.
He says, " I want a donut!"
I say, "Not this morning, we're eating at home."
He says, "But Mom, my tummy says it's hungry for a donut, so we Need to have donuts"
I say, "well your tummy will have to get over it."
He says, "Fine!"

The boy has a bit of an imagination on him.

Anyway, Friday we headed up to find some snow. It's been rather warm here this last week and we were about 30 miles from Tahoe before we found it. So we found the sled hill and off they went.
Ready to go...

Tyler ready, in his just too big outfit, poor second kid.

Up the hill. The big orange sled didn't last long as we're pretty sure it was warped over the summer and veered to the right. No lean steering, just went where it pleased.

Almost there...

Cody was quite the dare devil and went clear to the top of each run, bumped and curved his way down.

Tyler had a blast! He ended up backwards most runs, but he didn't care.

Keith helping Ty get set.

Cody in a crash and roll...

Oops, there goes Ty as well...

There were many of these trains, fun to watch.

One last run...

Smiley boy...

On the way to the car, they found a mini hill to climb and slide.

Cody helping Ty...

We had a good day, the weather was great and the hill wasn't too terribly crowded. We stopped and had Red Robin on the way home for an early dinner, a nice way to end our day out.

Today, Saturday, the boys headed to a pow-wow with Keith, having a good, long day out. I caught a movie, Dear John, and did the weekly shopping alone. One of those little things that shouldn't be a big deal, but it nice when it's a solo trip.

We'll end the weekend with a Birthday party for one of Cody's buddies, then it's back to school on Monday. Hope we can get up on time!

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

skating...

Today we took advantage of the cheap skating session and hit the rink. Before the session they offer a group lesson for $2 more, not sure it was worth it, but we did it anyway. After skating a couple of weeks ago, Ty decided he wanted the rolling wheel skates instead of the locked wheel ones. He did great! He skated with me most the time, but asked if he could change to the walking skates after about 1 1/2 hours. So we did and he finished off in those. Cody upgraded from the medium roll to the faster ones and was going around pretty quick in the end. He took a few spills, but nothing major.


Snack break...

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Adventure to the Train Museum...

Day #1 of President's week vacation:
Monday we took an adventure down to the Railroad Museum. Our adventure started by catching the light rail in Folsom and riding it almost to then end of the line downtown. We were lucky and didn't have too much company on the rail, because the company can be a little strange sometimes.

From the light rail stop, we walked a few blocks across the downtown mall, under the freeway into Old Sacramento.

They were featuring toy trains and toys/games about trains, they had a special area set up to see some of the neat things. They had a double track set up that ran on a timer.

We toured through as we always do, checking out all our favorite things. Here we are in front of one of our favorites, and it's orange, so that helps.

We made our way upstairs for some time around the train tables. Cody will still get fully involved with the trains, love that he's still little, as much as he wants to be big.

Tyler playing along...

After making our way through the museum, we headed down to sit by the river to eat some lunch. Then we spent some time just walking around Old Sac, without the time limit of the car meter! Climbing on the old Caboose.
We toured through the different shops, like the kite, toy, and novelty stores, then stopped for an Icee before heading back to the train stop. We lucked out and got to the stop about 2 minutes before the train came, phew!
On the way home, definitely tired.
Day #2 of President's week vacation:
Tuesday we just hung around the house most the day. I did however bust out the new steam mop, a homemakers dream. Cleaning that's hassle free, just fill it with water and plug in, does a good job and there's no chemicals. Now if I can just get my hands on a Dyson, my cleaning arsenal will almost be complete. (Welcome to Homemaking 101)

After a bit of cleaning, we ventured out to get Cody a hair cut. It's $10 day at the kids salon, and I'm cheap, so its works. That being said, I hate getting the boys' hair cut. I'm not sure why I'm so hung up on it, probably because I haven't found a style I love for Cody's hair. Tyler is just the shaggy little devil, and will probably stay that way for a while.
So we went, the boys played some video games, Cody had his hair did and they walked out with suckers, good times. We had someone new cut his hair today and she acutely listened and only trimmed around the ears and bottom, then across the front a bit so he can see out. It's one of the better cuts he's had in a while, but still not awesome. I hoping in the next year, his hair will thicken a bit so that not every cut is shown.


Speaking of hair, mine has been a bit boring lately, can you see a difference?
Maybe there???

I can't cut it, cause I always regret it a day later, and coloring all over is really expensive. So we'll see how long this lasts.

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Playing catch-up....

For some reason, trying to get around to updating has been quite a task. We've been busy, we've had stuff, but really just haven't been able to fit it in. So here it is, two weeks worth of things we've been up to!

A couple of Saturdays ago, they had an art show at the community center, featuring art from kids from the local schools. Tyler's class made special snowman pictures to display...


Then his school went up on stage to perform a few of the songs they sing in class. This is a mix of all three classes, those who were able to attend.

Their last number was on the floor with lots of dance, you can see his blonde head and brown jacket right in the middle.

After that we headed over to the creating area where they painted pictures and stamped cards.


They also made necklaces using foil and etching a design onto them.
Somebody was being ornery, and having a not so good hair day.

Last Tuesday Cody's school held a skate night at the local roller rink. The boys and I strapped on some skates and headed out for a good time. Tyler had the walking skates (where the wheels don't really roll) and Cody was in the medium speed skates, so the first bit was spent with death grips on my arms trying to get around in a circle. They were doing well and we stopped off for a break.

After a while, and seeing his friends out there alone, Cody found his courage and ventured out on his own. He did great, only fell a few times, but was back up and going again.

Tyler was also going really well, he's requested that he wants rolling wheels next time. Hoping to take him back soon for a morning Tots session.
This last Saturday was free museum day in Sacramento. It was a bit rainy, but we started our adventure at the zoo. Luckily, we missed the storms and had a nice, dry time.
First stop was a ride on the carousel.
We walked around and saw all the usual suspects. The giraffes are always a favorite, can't wait to go back and see them up high from the new observation area that is opening soon. They have a huge new enclosure and much more space to move about. Cool to see this one spreading his legs to get lower to eat.

Zookeeper Tyler

Red panda...

and the flamingos.

After the zoo we jumped on the freeway and headed to Woodland to visit the Ag museum. This is a new one for us, but totally worth the drive. We stopped into Sonic and ate before heading over to check out the old tractors and trucks.
Tyler by the tractor that's kinda like Grandpas, only bigger.

Some of these were huge.

Toy trucks section, found an old Wonder Bread toy.

The wooden tractor, Tyler driving, Cody's the engine.

Today Tyler had a field trip to Petsmart. What a cool place! They did a great tour, going around to the different areas, taking out animals to see and lots of explaining. They all seamed to have a great time.
Petting the Guinea pig.

and a rat...
the turtle...

and the snake. Wasn't sure what that look was all about.

But his hand went right up to pet it.

Then we went over to the vet clinic and they showed them how the animals go to the doctors. The kids disappeared with Ms. Suzanne and the vets for a nice chunk of time. We contemplated a coffee run, but they were just heading out.

Watching a pup get a hair cut.

Then over to see the fish.
They handed out cool little goody bags with coloring books and crayons, and a bunch of papers Ty said were for me.

Next up on the agenda is getting things ready for Valentine's at the boys' school. Tyler's class is having a party complete with cookies and sandwiches, then handing out Valentine's to his friends. Being the typical overachiever I am, I decided to make suckers for him to hand out. Seamed like it wouldn't be too hard, stupid assumption.
I started out using the Wilton candy melts, but as soon as I tried to flavor them, the melts went lumpy, so one batch thrown out. I next tried using almond bark and the first few I made went well. That was yesterday. This afternoon I finished them up and had little success getting the bark to melt to a nice creamy consistency, the flavoring was messing it all up. But they aren't awful and they taste really good so we're going with it!
The messy process begins...

Popped out and needing a shave.
Smoothed out..

Bagged and ready to go.

It always starts out being a good idea.
Cody's class is handing out Valentine's, but not really having a party and we can't take any kind of candy in. So we found the cool Lego cards that gives you a sticker puzzle to figure out.

Tonight we are headed to the school for a PTA sponsored pasta dinner. Can't beat $3 a plate for dinner. They are also holding the Feb PTA meeting during dinner, in hopes of getting some more participation, and to make sure all the officers for next year are put in place. This is where I'm diving in head first! I'm on the list for doing fundrasing next year. After seeing what was done this year, I'm not too afraid and hope to maybe find some new things to bring to the table. We are also gearing up for the annual school carnival that is held in April. It's nice to be able to do things for the school because it hasn't worked out for me to work in the classroom much this year.

No worries though, Cody's teacher has been keeping me busy! I've been taking home things to enter into the grade book, grading tests, cutting flashcards apart and other things here and there. She seams surprised every time I come in with a stack of finished things looking for more to do, nice way to make the evening pass.

So that's our happenings and up-to's over the last couple of weeks. The kids are out of school next week for the Presidents holidays and teacher in services. Hopefully we can keep ourselves entertained!