Easter weekend

We spent the weekend exploring the Mendocino National Forest north-west of Arbuckle, CA.  Almost every weekend we've been driving to Arbuckle to watch our new house go up - it's fun - lot's of anticipation :)  Easter was relaxing, stayed in town, and the backyard was the perfect place for egg-hunting!

 

  

 

 

 

 

Amy went pine cone hunting...

Front of house last week, back of house this week.

What good is a pool if you can't practice your casting?

Hope everyone had a great Easter weekend!

Jessie is 5!

On Monday, Jessie turned 5! I can't believe she is getting so grown up already! She is my independent thinker, picky eater, and my little grocery shopping buddy - I will miss her company when she starts Kindergarten next year :-( But, I am so excited for her and I know she will LOVE school!

Today, she had a check up and her Kindergarten shots. The CMA said she didn't think she has ever had a patient who helped hold up their own sleeve while getting shots. Not a single tear or even a flinch - I'm so proud! :-)

She is 40 lbs (53rd %tile) and 43.75 inches tall (75th %tile).

The kids always get to pick what type of cake they want (I do my best to oblige them!).

This year Jessie asked for a strawberry butterfly cake with Grammie's berries on it - she wanted to go outside to pick the berries herself. After I told her they wouldn't be ready to pick for a few months, we settled on Grammie's frozen berries. I found a great strawberry and cream cheese frosting on Pinterest - now a family favorite. It was a success and the birthday girl was thrilled.

Presents and cheese pizza finished the day off.

Spring Break

Last week Gracie and Emmett had spring break, so we did what no one else probably did - headed north into the cold, rainy northwest, of course!  My Mom, flew down a little early, then rode with the kids and I while we headed to my parents house up north. The drive was good and we truly enjoyed our wet adventures for the week. My Mom had a few "chores" assigned to us for the week (rolling the coins in the change jar - the kids got to keep it so they didn't mind :-), cutting matting for photos, and a few other fun ones). 

We were also getting ready for Weber Family sausage making so excitement was in the air! On Friday, Jason arrived at noon, then we had an early birthday dinner for Jessie (Pa made her bbq salmon, as requested). The Weber family began arriving Saturday morning and 500lbs of pork was cut, seasoned, ground, stuffed, and smoked before dinner - soooo much fun!! We headed out early Sunday morning and drove all the way back to Fairfield, getting in just before midnight. The kids are already asking when we'll be going back!

Much to Jason's dismay, Emmett and his cousin Cal, thought it would be funny to tramp around the house in clothes from the dress-up bin.....they were pretty cute! :-)

We also had to give my cousin Kate's new fiancee, Jon, a proper welcome to the family, so of course we had a bridal shower complete with lingerie! (There were other practical items too, but Jon didn't appreciate them as much! :-)

And last, but not least, a Hunter Family picture with our newest member, Emerson Mae.

Basketball

A little behind on the blogging - again. But, better late than never! ;-)

Emmett was in a basketball ball league back in February - he loved it! He learned new skills and has loved using our backyard hoop to practice his shooting. On the last day, the kids did a few fun relays and even  had a parent out to play too - guess who was the lucky parent in our house? :-) That's right, for the first time in....a long time...I was running up and down the court, shooting in a three-point competition (not my strongest spot on the court), and scrimmaging (I did not that was part of the deal when I signed up!).  It was pretty fun to be back in the action and I hope to to see him play again.