The sun is shining

It's amazing what a little bit of Vitamin D will do for ya. The sun is finally shining here in Belmont, California and happiness abounds.

Our backyard tends to be super soggy all the time, not to mention that our second family room leading out to the backyard is now stocked full of my work stuff so it's impossible to get through it. So, the kids have been playing out front a lot lately. We bring cars and balls out but mostly, they just love to chase each other around and play tackle. Yep, chase and tackle. Maddie might turn into a tomboy rather quickly at this rate.

Thank you sun, for brightening our days!


A little bit of tackling...



And tree hugging (it's a California thing)



And a little bit of day dreaming



And questioning the world



And plotting to overtake it



With baby sister in tow (if only she would have looked up for this photo!)



Laughter IS the best medicine



Especially that hearty, all out, throw-your-head-back kind



That ends with a squeal of delight



And there's no better way to end a day than to lay in the sunshine



And get tackled by your baby sister



Sending all our loved ones a little bit of sunshine...

Coming soon: Major League 2030

It has taken me over an hour to post these pictures and videos and now I'm tired and have nothing to say. But Mark would like me to say that while Mommy was working today, Jacob and Daddy had a great time at his first baseball game!

Enjoy.















I like to call this video "Throw it home, throw it home, throw it home, throw it home"



And I like to call this video "what home plate?"



I like to call this video "Take some dramamine before viewing"

More photography

Rachel, Jaemie and I took a brief 3 hour DSLR photography class this weekend. Since the rain stopped for all of about 20 minutes today, I decided to take the kids outside and test my new "skills". There is so, so much to learn. One thing I learned for certain is that increasing my shutter speed is an absolute MUST in capturing these 2 munchkins running around like wild animals. It definitely helped get the shot.

Still working on my silly manual-focus 1.8 lens. I might need to ask Santa for the upgrade this year because most of the time, I miss the shot as I can't get the darn thing focused fast enough. It's incredibly frustrating!

Please pray for sunshine soon!

She's so serious. But so stinking cute!



Um, this FACE. I love, love, love this FACE!



Increased shutter speed people. No blur here! They were running fast too!



I don't know why, but this picture cracks me up



Again, so serious.





Checking out our lemon tree



Our orange and lemon trees are bursting with fruit right now. I pulled the biggest lemon I've ever seen off this tree a couple of weeks ago! This ones a little baby lemon. But still beautiful!



Wherever he goes, so must she. Even if it's in the bushes, behind the trees.



And there is NO lack of excitement when Daddy gets home from work!



Would you please look at her face?! Click on it to see it closer up. Because it is priceless!



Yep, that's all Jacob wanted all day long. To be right there in Daddy's arms.

Rainy day activities

It's been raining here non stop. And the this whole week looks like rain. When you are stuck at home with 2 kids indefinitely, you start to go a little stir crazy. So, Maddie and Jacob have taken to running laps around the house playing chase, having dance parties and when we can, we brave the rain and find an indoor play place to expend some energy.









Jacob recently got a surprise package from Grandma and Grandpa. He has a collection of all of the characters from Toy Story but was missing Wheezy, the penguin. It's a good thing Grandma and Grandpa were paying attention! Thanks!



And finally, the upside to all this rain are the rainbows that we find at the most random times of the day. This was caught coming home from dropping Jacob off at school this morning. I've seen 3 in the last week. And it makes me feel like a kid each time, all over again.

The art of distraction -- and its sabotager

Let me tell you the beauty about being a young toddler. They have SO many things to say, yet their language is completely lost in translation. Maddie's frustrations lately lie entirely on the fact that she is CLEARLY telling me something, yet I have no idea what, and she'll say what she means a hundred times and I'll still look at her like she's an alien because I cannot, for the life of me, decipher what's coming out of her mouth. I sympathize with her frustration.

Frustration #2 comes when I CAN understand what she's saying, yet it's something I simply cannot deliver. Because she wants every. single. thing. she. can't. have. For instance, she wants the knife I'm holding, the diet coke I'm drinking (or the beer I'm guzzling - take your pick), the candy I'm sneaking, and the computer I'm working on. She wants the hair on my head, the teeth in my mouth and the belly button on my tummy. MADDIE! NEWS FLASH! You cannot have these things!

But, the other beauty of being a young toddler is that they are easily distracted. That is, until, their 4 year old brother consistently REMINDS them of why they were previously upset.

Case in point. We were leaving baseball practice today and Maddie is screaming "AH-CONE!" in the back seat. SCREAMING it. If you don't speak toddler, she was screaming "POPCORN" which also stands for "Pirates booty". They seriously must lace that stuff with baby crack, because my kids cannot get enough of it. I calmly explain to her that I don't have any popcorn and offer her a number of other tasty snacks, none of which she is interested in. Still screaming "AH-CONE", I manage to fish out a paci and her blankies from the diaper bag which seems to calm her and distract her from the fact that she really wants some popcorn. Phew. The screaming stopped.

Until my lovely 4 year old leans offer and says "I'm sorry Maddie. I'm sorry Mommy doesn't have any POPCORN." To which Maddie starts screaming "AH-CONE! AH-CONE!"

Thanks Jacob. My 30 seconds of peace quickly faded away...
It's a good thing I love that kid!

Baseball/Wiffle ball is going great so far. I cannot BELIEVE his team name is the Longhorns. It was absolutely fate. :)