Johnson Family News

Christmas 2009

2010-09-11T01:35:00.000-07:00

Day Before Christmas eve

Christmas Eve

Merry Christmas

Cheer Comp in Sacramento

2010-09-11T01:22:00.000-07:00

California Girl

2010-09-11T01:19:00.000-07:00

San Francisco Symphony April 2010

2010-09-11T01:15:00.000-07:00

Cub Scout Blue and gold Dinner Feb 2010

2010-09-11T01:05:00.000-07:00

Justin's Army Tank Cake

Blue and Gold Cookies

The Cakes

This year I was in charge of the blue and gold dinner we had a great turn out and adding a few blue and gold star balloons really made it look festive! It was a great night!

Boy Scout Court of Honor Feb 10, 2010

2010-09-11T00:53:00.000-07:00

Jessica and Jessica

Pinewood Derby 2010

2010-09-11T00:44:00.000-07:00

First Day of school Sept 1, 2010

2010-09-11T00:39:00.000-07:00

Jordan 11th grade

Jacob 7th grade

Justin 5th grade

Jessica 1st grade

Another day at Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk August 2010

2010-09-11T00:36:00.000-07:00

Camping at Sea Cliff beach

2010-09-11T00:31:00.000-07:00

Jacob skim boarding

Pinecrest August 2010

2010-09-11T00:25:00.000-07:00

Camping with the Johnson family

cousins

Jessie and Grandma

Playing ball with Grandpa

Santa Cruz with Cousins!

2010-09-11T00:21:00.000-07:00

Sand monster!

Best Ice cream ever!

crazy cousins!

my boys

Annual Highlands swim day with old friends.

2010-09-11T00:13:00.000-07:00

Boy Scouts First Class Rank to Star Rank

2010-09-11T00:05:00.000-07:00

Camp Merit Badges

Rowing, canoeing, fishing, environmental science, basketry, insect study, water and soil conservation and the mile swim award.

Cub Scouts Bear to Webelo

2010-09-10T23:55:00.001-07:00

Disneyland July 2010

2010-09-10T23:51:00.000-07:00

Jessica's favorite thing to do is take pictures with the characters even though we have a ton of pictures with most all the characters. The older kids all took off to get on as many rides as they could so Mike and I just had Jessica so she got to do what ever she wanted.

Pictures with so of the hard to find Disney characters

The witch told her no smiling and I thought something was wrong or she was scared. She was just doing what the witch told her to do.

We finally got pictures with Mary Poppins in Jessica's Mary Poppins dress only I forgot to switch her shoes before the pictures. They talked to her for 5 minutes while the line got longer and longer.

Mary said "1, 2, 3 parasols up"

While we were standing in line for Minnie Jessica whispered to me to tell daddy to get in the picture with her when she gets up to Minnie.

Almost too big for Daddy's shoulders.

Pinecrest July 2010

2010-09-10T23:30:00.000-07:00

Camping trip to Pinecrest with Grandma and Grandpa Martin

My Surfin' Cowboy

2010-09-10T23:25:00.000-07:00

A crazy fun day at Santa Cruz only had time to snap one quick pic.

4th of July

2010-09-10T23:23:00.000-07:00

Swimming, BBQ, and fireworks with Grandma and Grandpa Martin in Elk Grove

Chocolate Fountain and Chocolate Roses

2010-09-10T23:17:00.000-07:00

Another Boy Scout Court of Honor

Family Reunion in Kansas

2010-09-10T23:11:00.000-07:00

Jacob's 6th grade graduation

2010-09-10T23:02:00.000-07:00

Jacob's 6th grade graduation

6th grade class picture

I stood on the top of a really tall ladder to take this class picture. Each student received an 8x12 of this picture along with their certificate and other memorabilia

Jacob and the principal

Paul Josh and Jacob

Easter 2010

2010-04-07T18:02:00.000-07:00

Jurassic Pack

2009-06-06T17:48:00.000-07:00

We had a Jurassic Pack meeting this month complete with an erupting Volcano! We learned about volcanos, rocks and minerals, painted pet rocks, made fossils, had a dinosaur egg hunt and more! All the boys earned there Geology belt loop and pin that night.

Painting pet rocks

Dino Egg HuntAn exploding finish!

At the den meetings this month the boys made some paper mache creations!

BFF and Matilda Jane

2009-06-06T17:34:00.000-07:00

Bye Bye Polinis

2009-06-06T17:24:00.000-07:00

We had to say good bye to our 50cc Polini dirt bikes. The boys have been racing Polini's since they started racing about 5 years ago. Jacob's first race bike was a Polini x1 he sooned moved up to an x3 and then he passed them down to Justin. We went through many of these bikes. These were the last 2 and the boys are just gettin' to darn big for them. We we sold them both to someone in South Carolina. No more 50's! They both ride Ktm 65's now and Jacob also rides a Yamaha 85. These are just a couple pics of the boys saying good bye to these bikes that they had so much fun on over the years!

Candy Store

2009-06-06T17:09:00.000-07:00

Happy as a kid in a candy store! They have the cutest little candy store in the down town area near my work totally reminds me of Willy Wonka! They even have old time candies that are really hard to find and a soda bar in the back of the store.

Cub Scout Pack Meeting

2009-06-06T16:58:00.000-07:00

My first Cub Scout pack meeting as Cub Master! We had lots of fun making mini pizzas and decorating cupcakes! This months theme was "when I grow up" so we ended our month of fun career themed activities learning about being a cook or chef! The boys did a great job and were e

ven excited to do a little career skit for the parents at the end!

Easter at Home

2009-06-06T16:53:00.001-07:00

We stayed home and had a simple Easter dinner and egg hunt since Jessica had just got out of the hospital. We invited some friends from church over too.

Just Hangin' at the hospital!

2009-06-06T16:40:00.000-07:00

Jessica had a little not so fun 4 day stay at the hospital right before Easter. Just a virus but it was a crazy couple days with lots of shots and pokes xrays, yucky medicine and even an ambulance ride. Her favorite part was the cute little personal tv right next to her bed and all the extra attention from mom and dad. She wouldn't eat anything in the hospital so daddy had to bring her strawberries and sushi!

Making a Splash!

2009-06-06T16:35:00.000-07:00

Jordan decided to try out for the swim tea this year here are a couple pics from one of her swim meets.

Jacob's School Play

2009-04-14T00:45:00.000-07:00

This year Jacob helped on the crew for the school play and was in charge of the lighting. I made the bulletin board and 8 of these posters with all 70 cast members pictures to hang up in the auditorium. It was a little more work then I thought it would be. But I got to cut all the letters with my cricut machine.

Blue and Gold Dinner

2009-04-14T00:40:00.001-07:00

Justin's Cub Scout Blue and Gold Dinner
Each boy has to make a cake and this year it had to be a destination. So we made a Hawaii pineapple cake with a valcano on it!

A snow Day

2009-04-14T00:39:00.000-07:00

ice skating

2009-04-14T00:29:00.000-07:00

Jessica helped her teacher do a presentation on ice skating for career week at school. This is her ice skating coach talking to the other classes and Jessica modeling for them.

Jessica practicing after her lesson.

Jordan's Soccer

2009-02-24T01:34:00.000-08:00

So I didn't get very many pictures of Jordan first season of soccer as a freshmen but here are some pictures. She had a lot of fun and is so glad she decide to try it! It was ruff with Basketball season at the same time between the 2 sports she had a game almost every week night! It is not very easy to get these pictures I think I need a new camera! They are way too far away to get good pictures when they play on the big football field.

Ouch!

2009-02-24T01:25:00.000-08:00

Ouch! poor Justin had a little accident at school the other day. This is maybe why concrete curbs are not the best choice for the border of the school play structure. He always seems to be hurting his cute little face. He has quite a few scars on his face already now this.

A Snow Day!

2009-02-24T01:14:00.000-08:00

First all, everyone that lives where it snows, no laughing LOL!
Our preschool had a snow day for the kids they had an ice company come and drop off a pile of snow for the kids to play in. The kids had a blast this is Jessica with some friends from her class she just gets right in there with all the boys and throws her little snow balls like crazy!

Fancy Nancy

2009-02-24T01:07:00.000-08:00

Jessica went to a Fancy Nancy birthday party and she was just a little dressed up! Fancy Nancy is a cute character from a series of storybooks and she uses fancy words and dresses very fancy! So instead of being tired Jessica now says she is exhausted! and other fancy words. They are really cute books!

Jessica learns to ice skate!

2009-02-24T01:03:00.001-08:00

My friend Karen that I work with at the preschool also with teaches ice skating lessons Jessica had her first lesson the other day! Did great and learned so much really quickly! She has her second lesson this week and we bought some cute white skates no ,more yucky brown ones! LOL!

Jordan's Basketball Halftime Dance

2009-02-24T00:49:00.000-08:00

Jordan made up this dance and taught it to her team, all by herself, to perform at the basketball games this season. She amazes me every day! Something was wrong with the music player in the gym and it made the music play a little slower than it should.

San Francisco

2009-01-25T23:17:00.000-08:00

We spent the day in San Francisco! There is so much cool art in the city! We started out at he Embarcadero Center.

Do you know what this building is? This is the famous clock tower that stopped at 5:16 during the 1906 earthquake. And underneath it is the Ferry Building Market Place! Every Tuesday and Saturday there is also a huge outdoor farmers market too! The Ferry building is filled with amazing gourmet shops!

First stop olive oil tasting! Yum!I have never seen so many cheeses in my life! This place is great ! You pick a number and when it is your turn they will let you try any and every cheese they have! And they know everything about cheese and tell you where each one comes from how it is made and with what kind of milk and how long it takes to make. We bought 3 different cheeses to bring home.Super Aged Gouda, Winchester
Jules Wesselink, the owner and operator of Winchester Dairy, was born and raised in Holland and he brings traditional Dutch cheese making methods to Winchester County, California. Each big yellow round of Winchester Gouda cheese is labeled "Boere Kaas," which promises that the cheese is "home made on the farm."Winchester's Medium Gouda is aged for at least three months during which time it develops a full, piquant flavor in its firm, creamy paste. The sharp is aged for at least six months during which time it develops an edgy sharpness and the paste becomes dotted with crunchy crystals. The super-aged is aged over a year, during which time it develops into a very sharp and assertive cheese with and a hard, gratable paste.Mimolette Extra Vieille

Shaped like a pitted melon, this neon orange cow milk cheese from Flanders, Normandy has many stories told about its creation. My favorite tells a tale of France's King Louis XIV, who banned the importation of Edamin (Edam) from his country. Apparently, the king decided that the Dutch cheese was getting too popular among his subjects, whom he felt, should be eating local: French cheese for French people! He commissioned a French copy of the cheese and ordered it dyed orange. Now, either that was to ensure that no one mistook the Mimolette for Edam again, or, given that Louis XIV had issues with the Dutch Royal House of Orange-Nassau, maybe it was a bit more personal.Dyed with the annatto seed, Mimolette is aged for at least two years during which time it develops a chewy texture and a smoky, almost bacon-like flavor.

This one is my favorite and the most expensive $38 a pound!Midnight Moon
Situated where the giant redwoods kiss the Pacific Ocean in the rugged northernmost reaches of Humboldt County, California, Cypress Grove Creamery gets unique inspiration from the salt-etched voluminous fog that coolly rolls in nearly every day.The legendary Humboldt Fog, along with variations on French style goat cheeses, are made at the Cypress Grove Creamery in downtown Arcata. To supplement production, cheesemaker Mary Keehn has traveled to Europe to find cheesemaking partners who can make classic cheeses to her specifications.The goat milk sister to Lamb Chopper, Midnight Moon is also made in Holland, following a Dutch gouda recipe. Dense and chewy, Midnight Moon is aged for at least one year, during which time it develops a lovely brown butter flavor with intense caramel undertones.

This one is really sweet! The had amazing fungi or mushrooms but we didn't really know anything great to do with them so I just took a picture.Oysters anyone? The San Francisco Fish Market had an oyster bar out so Michael tried one I was too chicken they were only $1.50

Miette Patisserie is a dainty little pastry shop, inspired by the patisseries of Paris. The pale pink walls and lovingly created cakes, cookies and pastries lined up in sparking glass display cases evoke a slice of Parisian life on the San Francisco Bay. Many of the ingredients are organic, and most are from local producers. Beautiful gift packaging is available during the holidays.
The name, "Miette," means "little crumb" in French. Some favorite items available at the Marketplace are Parisian Macaroons, Chocolate Eclairs, and exquisite Gingerbread Cupcakes. Favorite cookies include the Lavender Shortbread and Chocolate Sables.This is one of my new favorite places! Miette they have the most wonderful sweets! We tried a lemon tartlette ( Michael really likes lemony sweets) english toffe, hand pulled taffy and these pistachio macaroons pictures above.They had many other wonderful shops with fresh herbs and even a cavier bar! oh and we got some sourdough bread from acme bread. But our last stop was Ciao Bella! I was told they have the best Gelato and they do! I got Turkish Pistachio and Dulce de leche! Wow great ice Cream!This was only the beginning of our adventure! I thought we would walk down to Pier 39 well it was a lot farther then I thought! But we made it! I wanted to ride the cable cars and well that was even a bit further only six more blocks! But we made it! And what a great deal for only $11 you can ride the cable cars, buses, trains etc, all day and get all around the city! It was both of ours first time ever riding on a cable car! It was really fun we rode on the back. The cable car workers were so friendly and helpful! You can even ride them hanging off the side like you always see in pictures!

We took the cable car to powell street werethe super cool newly remodled mall is and hang out thee for awhile.

We decided to take the cable car back to the Embarcadero Center was and get some dinner, but the cable car line we needed to take was broken so we hopped on another one to take us back to Fisherman's Wharf and oops we got on the wrong one and it was taking us even further way from our car so we were at the to of Lombard street and I thought we could get off there and catch the right cable car at the bottom of Lombard street. Well I was wrong it was about 4 or 5 blocks. But it was really cool walking down Lombard street. Lombard street also known as the "Crookedest road" when my sister and I were really little we insisted our dad drive us down "The Crookedest road" every time we went to San Francisco by chanting "Crookedest road" "crookedest road" until he gave in!
Well we never did find another cable car and we made it back to Fisherman's Wharf for a crab cocktail and fried calamari snack for our dinner. Which was fine cause we were still kinda full from all the goodies we had gotten earlier at the Ferry Building.

And we made it back to our car on one of these old fashion Market street railway cars. What a great day we had! But I was so sore the next day from all that walking in boots!

cricut

2009-01-25T23:08:00.000-08:00

Yeah I made two crafty things today( 1-19-09) with my new cricut machine that I got for Christmas! I love this machine it is so easy to use and I can create cute letters and shapes for my classroom, use it for scrapbooking and cute crafts! I made this banner for Michael's birthday and a simple Valentine branch tree for our dinning room.

Nutcracker Ballet

2009-01-25T17:15:00.000-08:00

Jessica was in Ballet Petit's 3oth Anniversary Performance of the Nutcracker. She was a Snow Angel in the Snow Scene. Jordan was also a Snow Angel 10 years ago!

I made special snowflake, pink snow angel, and nutcracker sugar cookies using my hard to get dragrees for the intermission. I couldn't believe my eyes when I went to drop off the cookies that all the other cookies people had brought were store bought! Am I the only crazy person that actually makes homemade cookies from scratch anymore?

Princess Tea Party

2008-12-01T00:18:00.000-08:00

Jessica's Princess Tea PartyThe invitationsTags for party bagsTiaras for everyonePrincess Hair clippiesPrincess make up and glitter nails done by Jordan and AmandaTea party place settingsPrincess Ariel brought us each bubbles and sent us on a treasure hunt for a treasure chest!

Musical pass the teapot game Princess snacks

Princess crafts

Decorations

center pieces

Happy Birthday Jacob!

2008-11-30T23:17:00.000-08:00

November 17, 2008 Happy Birthday Jacob!

Jacob's 1st birthday

Jacob dad's little helper!

Jacob the dare devil!

Jacob is a great swimmer.

Jacob showing off his road rash! Gross!

Jacob and his best friend Paul November 17, 2007

Fishermens warf 2007

Bubba Gumps Pier 39 2007

Jacob # 17

Jacob at Disneyland still not too big for the carousel. Notice the broken hand.

Jacob turns 11 today!

I made this cool plate and cup set with my friend Angela the weekend we were in Sacramento. we used her cricut machine to cut out vinyl lettering.

Thnaksgiving Cookies

2008-11-30T23:03:00.000-08:00

Jessica helping Mommy make tukey and leaf shaped sugar cookies for an early Thanksgiving dinner with Daddy's family. It's a tradition in our family to make sugar cookies for each holiday. It started with me and my sister always making sugar cookies with our mom for the holidays and then I started with Jordan and we make them for every holiday and I have several hundred cookie cutters. In my husband's family it is tradition that I bring the sugar cookies to each family get together and if I don't I hear all night long "where are the cookies" "why didn't you make cookies." Luckily Jordan can now help me make the cookies and Jessica only likes sugar cookies! LOL!

Dinner at Aunt Michelle's House

Jordan and KaylaJacobJustin and Jessica
Jessica and her cousin Jillian eating the sugar cookies!

2008-11-30T22:30:00.000-08:00

November 9, 2008

This weekend the boys raced in Sacramento at the Hangtown National track the whole family got to go and camp out this weekend cause football season is over now. The boys had a great weekend of racing a road really well I tried to take a bunch of pictures but it is so hard from far away and I took a couple video clips with my camera too!

Justin got stuck in a huge mud hole in one of his races and the mud was to the top of his tires and it took 3 motocross moms to pull him and his bike out of the mud! See pictures below before and after! He is so funny and doesn't really mind the mud at all!

Jacob getting ready to race and a couple pictures of each of the boys jumping. The video at the bottom is of Jacob.

Justin crossing the finish line!Justin and his First Place Trophy!

cookie decorations illegal?

2008-11-30T22:04:00.000-08:00

November 1, 2008

Yeah! look what I got in the mail today! I love these shiny silver balls for decorating cookies! I remember sneaking in the kitchen when I was little to eat them from the kitchen cabinet. Well apparently they are to sell in California now and you can not get them anywhere companies wont even ship them here! Either will anyone on ebay, I checked! Some jerk of a lawyer saw them in the grocery store one day and decided that they didn't belong there then went a suing spree and now no more cute shiny balls for all us who in in California! Well I wasn't going to let some jerk tell me what I can and can not decorate my cookies with especially with a very important princess party coming up so thanks to some every special "cookie elves" I got my silver, gold, pink and rainbow cookie decorations! My mom gave Jessica this totally cute princess cook book last year and about half of the recipes called for these beauties so how could we have a princess party with out them!

Mud Racing

2008-11-10T22:25:00.000-08:00

So while the girls were cheering in the rain the boys were racing in a Hare Scramble race in the pouring rain at Hang town in Sacramento. Jacob won 1st place and Justin won third place! And they had tons of fun riding in the rain and mud!

Homecoming

2008-11-10T21:58:00.000-08:00

This is the Pinata we bought on friday it was a Batman Pinata and we turned him into a Titan Football player for the JV football team to beat before the Homecoming Game.

Jessica thought he was the best thing! She reallt wanted to take a picture of it.

The girls were really excited to decorate the boys locker room. They brought star balloons with each boys # on it, cupcakes, brownies, rice krispie treats, candy bags posters and the pinata.

But it was totally pouring rain all day and all night the girls were great and cheered in the rain the whole game!

They even performed the halftime dance in the rain on the super wet field in rain ponchos! One of the boys dads bought all the girls hot chocolate the second half of the game.

But what a game! 42-0 Go Eagles!

A Week Long Halloween

2008-11-05T22:38:00.001-08:00

Halloween was like a week long this year, on Monday we went to the Ghost House. It's not Halloween with out a visit to the Little Ghost House in town. I remember going here when I was little and it hasn't changed a bit.We went with Jenn and Christian"Indiana Jacob" I mean JonesJustin was a T- Bird from one of my favorite Movies "Grease" I found him this awesome leather jacket then add these letters and the bird that I cut out from sticky back felt.Jessica wanted to be Juliet from the new Taylor Swift video "Love Story" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4xmxb9K8RI

Surprise! We ran into their cousin Ariel while we were there. The girls were too silly and wouldn't stand still for a picture!The best part! The carmel apples and only about $3.00 each! What a deal!

On Tuesday we carved the pumpkins

Made Halloween cake pops for the cub scout pack meeting and Halloween party. http://bakerella.blogspot.com/

My friend Lisa bought me this cute lolli pop stand last week! and then Justin informs me that his book report is due the next day! I just love it when that happens! So then we stayed up late doing this book report.

On Wednesday we went to the church Halloween Carnival but before that my cell phone broke so I had to run and get a new one. And I have no pictures because I forgot my camera and I didn't have time to run home and get it because I had to run back to the cell phone store to pick up my new phone and be back at the carnival by 7 to run the bean bag booth from 7-8. So after the carnival we drop the 3 little ones at home and I wrap up the m&m cookies I baked earlier in cello bags and curling ribbon to drop off at 6 football players houses with posters and streamers to decorate their houses before the big home coming game. Oh but first we had to run to walgreens because target didn't have the "runts" candy one of the boys had suggested was his favorite. Then we go to Jordan's best friends house and get in her car with her mom to drive all over decorating houses and delivering the treats. So we finally get home about 10:45. and I call in to see if I have to go to jury duty the next morning and of course I do cause I'm not going crazy already! Jessica coughs all night with her asthma cough( no sleep).Here's a picture of my cute new phone!

Thursday: bring Jessica to Judy's go to jury duty (not fun) really really sucks. After I get out for the day ( I have to go back on monday).I call the doctor for Jessica because she is still coughing really bad go to Kaiser that is always fun and they are always really quick (just kidding)! Then I get to go to the pharmacy and spend $150. Rush to pick up Jordan from school go home for a few minutes Jordan has to cheer at the freshmen football game tonight so I take her to the football field (it's raining)then rush back to the other side of town to take Jessica to ballet but we are late and now she is coughing too much and doesn't want to dance today and the dancing and jumping would just make her coughing more. so we just watch and try on her costume or the Nutcracker that is in a few weeks. Then I had to go home and make the cupcakes for Jessica's class the next morning. I made pumpkin cupcakes with real pumpkin in them!

http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/pumpkin-cupcakes

Here is Jessica Halloween morning before school.

Friday arrive at work and find out that both of my assistants have decided to call in sick! Happy Halloween to me Trick or Treat? I think it's a trick! So I'm very irritated now! Then because they are not there I didn't get a chance to go up stairs to watch Jessica's class do their parade, ok really really mad now! After work I needed to go to the Stanford shopping center to pick up some "sprinkles" cupcakes they were having a special carmel apple cupcakes Halloween week only. http://www.sprinklescupcakes.com/

I have to wait a few minutes for the cupcakes so I run into Williams Sonoma to buy a princess cookie cutter set for Jessica's birthday that is in November. Then we stop by Michael's work to bring him a cupcake and some other treats Jessica made at school. I'm supposed to be at the high school at 3pm to decorate for the homecoming dance so we get there as soon as we can. When we are done decorating we go to the store to buy a pinata for the football game, more on that later. We get ready for the dance and I am supposed to chaperone and wear a costume so put on my old cheer uniform from high school throw my hair up in a pony and finish it with a bow sorry no pics of that one! LOL! So we get to there lat but there really was no reason for us to be early and it took for awhile to decide what to wear army girl, boy scout or cheerleader. Well the dance is so boring and I am totally missing taking the kids trick or treating. Sooooooooo I sneak out of the dance and meet up with Michael and the kids and trick or treat looking like a cheerleader in the rain! When we got home Michael and the boys left to go motocross racing for the weekend. But before they left I got out the cookies that I had been promising Jessica she could decorate for Halloween and we discovered that the boys had eaten almost all of the cookies before we could decorate them! Jessica as so made at the boys it was so cute. Lucklily there were about 8 or 10 left just enough for Jessica to decorate. Poor thing was so tired and sick you can really see it in her eyes she can barely keep them open.She was so proud of her cookie a and her candy stash! I'm so glad Halloween is over it was a very scarey week!!

We love our Little sister!

2008-11-05T22:19:00.001-08:00

She's got them wrapped a round her little finger!Jessica was so happy to take a picture with her two brotherstoday after church! They weren't as excited, you should see the picture before this! LOL! It's October 24 here in California and they are all in swim suits in the backyard and she talked them into having a tea party with her! The towel is her table cloth. What good brothers she has.

Dodge Motocross Nationals

2008-11-05T22:10:00.000-08:00

Michael and the boys spent the first week of October in Rancho Cordova at the Hangtown Motocross track. I didn't go so I couldn't take any pictures but here are a few of the pictures Michael bought while at the races. Justin is # 7 and Jacob is #17

Half Moon Bay Pumpkin Patch

2008-10-26T20:22:00.000-07:00

Family Fun! Lots of pictures because I love love taking pictures at the pumpkin patch, they are so bright and colorful.

Pinkalicious

2008-10-26T20:00:00.000-07:00

Jessica loves this Pinkalicious book so we made the pinkalicious cupcakes with the Sprinkles recipe. This recipe turned out almost perfect!

Sprinkles Strawberry Cupcakes

Makes 1 dozen
1 ½ cup all-purpose flour, sifted

1 tsp baking powder½ tsp baking soda

¼ tsp kosher salt4 oz unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg, at room temperature

2 large egg whites, at room temperature

¼ cup whole milk, at room temperature

¼ cup pureed strawberries (use all-natural frozen that have been thawed)

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degreesFill a 12 cup cupcake pan with cupcake linersWhisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set asideAdd vanilla and strawberry puree to milk and set asideIn standing mixer, cream butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffySlowly add egg and egg whites and mix on medium speed until blendedWith mixer on low speed, add half the flour mixture until just blendedAdd milk mixture and mix just until blended Add remaining flour mixture and mix just until blended. Scrape down bowl to make sure entire mixture is smooth. Divide batter between 12 cupcake cups and bake for approx 22 minutes or until tops are just dry to the touch

Sprinkles Strawberry FrostingFrosts 1 dozen
2 sticks (½ lb) unsalted butter, firm but not cold

1/8 tsp kosher salt

3 ½ cups confectioners sugar, sifted

½ tsp pure vanilla extract

2 tbsp pureed strawberries (use all-natural frozen that have been thawed)

Beat butter and salt on medium speed until light and fluffyReduce speed and gradually add confectioner's sugar and beat until incorporatedAdd vanilla and strawberry puree and mix until blended. Do not overmix, or the frosting will incorporate too much air. The consistency should be dense and creamy, like ice-cream

Pumpkin Muffins

2008-10-26T18:37:00.000-07:00

Mix dry ingredients in a separate bowl
3 ½ cups Flour
½ tsp Baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
½ tsp nutmeg
½ tsp cinnamon

Mix together
3 cups sugar
2 eggs
add
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 cup oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
Mix
Then add
1 cup milk
1 cup water
Add dry ingredient mix slowly

Makes 48 muffins
Cook for about 30 min. at 350 degrees

Half time Dance

2008-10-19T21:33:00.000-07:00

Cheering at the Football Game

2008-10-19T20:03:00.000-07:00

Tonight we playeed my old high school team! It was really weird watching the game I kept forgetting what team I was on! LOL Go Huskies I mean EAGLES!

The run threw Banner!

The best part of the game slapping hands with all the boys at the end of the game!

Jessie's Big Bow!

2008-10-19T19:53:00.000-07:00

Wow now that's a big bow! I made 23 these huge sequins bows for the Pop Warner Titians competition team and Jessica got my sample and wore it to the Ameican High Football game that night!

"Oh the Places You'll Go" Dr Seuss

2008-10-19T19:28:00.000-07:00

create your own personalized map of the USA
or check out ourCalifornia travel guide

Happy Birthday Jordan

2008-10-19T19:14:00.001-07:00

Happy 15th Birthday Jordan!I surprised Jordan and took her and her BFF Amanda to the Melting Pot on monday the day before her birthday !

I brought Jessica and my friend Jenn for her Birthday too!

On her real birthday on tuesday we brought her home some famous Sprinkles cupcakes from the Stanford Shopping center, they just opened there last week. We got strawberry, red velvet, vanilla and chocolate peanut butter!They were so good! I boxed up two of them cute for my friends Jenn and Judy!
Then Jessica, Jordan and I went to our favorite sushi resturant and then shopping at the mall!

Happy Birthday Jordan we love you!

A crafty day!

2008-09-30T01:01:00.000-07:00

The boys were away and the girls will play we made a huge mess making all these crafts at once this weekend! Lots of ideas are from my new favorite blog tip junkie
A Candy Bouquet A glitter cup

mini cupcake bouquet for Jenn

cupcake lollies as seen on martha stewart!

pinkalicious cupcakes for fireside

scrapbook style birthday banner

Huge 3 inch ribbon conffetti cheer bow

we glued sequins on Jessica's cheer outfit (her idea)

made an applique sequins shirt

Jordan for Vice President!

2008-09-30T00:58:00.000-07:00

Football Posters and Rally

2008-09-30T00:45:00.000-07:00

We've been making so many posters lately the house is covered in glitter I had to cut out 30 of these huge football helmets from poster board 1 for each player for the girls to decorate! First Rally: The cheerleaders performed at the first school rally last friday! They only had a few day to learn this new dance. They kinda messed up at he end but it was just for fun at the rally.

Another Day at the Beach Sept 15

2008-09-30T00:38:00.000-07:00

Jordan talked me into driving her and a couple friends to the beach today Crazy girls these are pictures from Jordan's camera!

First Football Game

2008-09-30T00:20:00.000-07:00

Webkinz

2008-09-30T00:17:00.000-07:00

Jessica in a fancy up do for school and her new favorite thing Webkinz!

First Day of School

2008-09-30T00:12:00.000-07:00

Just Jessie

2008-09-30T00:10:00.000-07:00

Arrow of Light

2008-09-30T00:00:00.000-07:00

Jacob received his arrow of Light Award for Cub scouting last month here are some pictures from the ceremony it is the highest award you can earn in Cub Scouting.

Michael made the Arrow of Light light box several years ago before Jacob was even old enough for cub scouts and now one of our kids actually got to use it (like 5 years later) and I made the special Arrow of Light cupcakes! Congratulations Jacob!

Catching Up

2008-09-06T09:13:00.000-07:00

Wow it has been a long time since I posted anything the day after my last post we went to Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk! My favorite place to go! Mike bought the kids 2 boogie boards and there we out there for hours! My cousin Ally came to stay with us for a week her and Jordan are great friends the call and e-mail each other everyday and look forward to spending a week or 2 with each other every summer. We met up with Grandpa Brian, Shawn, Misty, Auntie Kelly and her 4 kids the day also for some fun on the boardwalk. We had 10 kids and 5 adults it was kinda crazy!

Jessica and Ally

The kids were so excited to see their friends Cody and Tyler that moved away a few years ago it's great to see the kids play like they never moved away.

Jessica and Tyler The boys building there usual fort out of lawn chairs!The big boys just hanging out!

Where is Jordan? she was there too I was just busy running her back and forth to cheer practice on the other side of town.

I have really slowed down with the picture taking lately. The boys went and stayed with their grandparents in Twain Harte for a week then Jessica went for a week also. We went to Santa Cruz a few more times actually we spent a lot of time in Santa Cruz this year one Saturday we took our kids and Jordan brought 2 friends her bff Amanda and a friend from church, Devin also we met Jacob's best friend Paul and his family there that day. It is so fun just to sit on the beach and watch the kids play in the waves. We went the next Monday with just our family and played on the beach and then went on some rides on boardwalk then went for a nice dinner on the wharf. Then the next weekend we went with the youth group from church and helped to drive some of the kids there. Yeah so we are all beached out now, till next summer!

Birthday dinner we went to dinner with my Dad and Shawn for my birthday (early) We went to a great restaurant in Half Moon Bay that I had been wanting to try! It was so good we all loved it! I can't wait to go back there! I can't remember what is called but it is right on the main highway and it has a green sign. We've been trying different restaurant's in half moon bay the last year. We went the Miramar very nice very fancy food and we went to the Distillery they give you very little food for a whole lot of money, yeah not so good.

Happy Anniversary to us! We had an awesome dinner at the Melting Pot a fondue restaurant, we had never been to one before except for dessert so we decided to try something new! Wow it is so much food, four courses. First cheese fondue with bread veggies and chips to dip. The cheese is sooo good. Then a great salad you get to pick from several different types. Then the meat yes they bring you plates of raw meat and you cook each pieces before you eat it! My favorite is the shrimp and lobster! They also bring you tons of dipping sauces and more veggies. and finally dessert! You get to choose from several different chocolate mixtures! It is a 2 1/2 to 3 hour meal and it is worth it everyone should try it! So the next weekend we went back with some friends from Michaels work and had tons of fun.

The only child

2008-07-27T22:16:00.000-07:00

What do you do when you only have one child?

1. take pictures of animals

2. you let them go on their favorite ride before they eat their dinner3. you just sit and wait while they eat their food very slowly(you're not in a hurry)4. they get to pick every ride you go on 5. they get to pick when you go on each ride

6. you have time to notice the little things like the cute little sayings on the back of the rides

7. you take pictures of them waiting in line and doing absolutely nothing.

8. you let them go on each ride as many times as they want
9. and you take a picture each time they go on it
10. you even have extra time to play a game yourself
Wow it was amazing how much slower we were going with just one child and how much attention that a only child gets. I still think it's more fun with more! But a little 2 on 1 is good once in awhile and Jessica really misses her brothers and sister.

Quiet

2008-07-27T21:43:00.000-07:00

It was a very quiet week Jordan went to church camp and the boys went back up to Pinecrest
http://www.pinecrestlakeresort.com/Welcome%20to%20Pinecrest%2006.htm

for a week with Grandpa Dave, Grandma Nina, Dustin, Garrett, Ashley and baby Jayden. And Jordan went to church camp! The boys had a great time fishing and swimming. Justin even caught a cat fish one day! They went to the "movies under the stars", an outside movie theater at the campground 3 times and saw Kungfu Panda (again), Get Smart and Journey to the Center of Earth. Then grandpa rented a party boat one day and they got to go out on the lake all day!

Here are some fun pictures of Jordan at camp! Jordan had a great time at camp this year her group even went on a overnight backpacking hike for 2 days!

Picture from hike

Picture of their welcome back dinner.

They get a special decorated table at dinner after their long hike

Jordan and her group this year.

Their theme was frogs this year for her group.

Dress up

2008-07-27T21:38:00.000-07:00

Wednesday July 16

Jessica was playing dress up in her room and this is what she came out in and said I'm ready to go camping again!

Santa Cruz

2008-07-27T21:26:00.000-07:00

Monday I pick Jordan and her friend Katie up from cheer camp and took them to Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. www.beachboardwalk.com
I sat on the beach and watched the girls jump in the waves for awhile. They were making me very nervous! Then we all fell asleep on the beach fro awhile. I just love laying on the beach and listening to the waves. Then we had dinner and they decide to go on all the spinning rides that make you sick first! It was nice to just takes some older kids and just hang out and relax a little!

Camping at Pinecrest

2008-07-27T21:19:00.000-07:00

Mike and the kids went camping at Pinecrest with his family the weekend Jordan was at cheer camp. And I got a weekend to myself! And I'm not telling you what I did LOL!

Preschool Blog

2008-07-27T21:15:00.001-07:00

I started a new blog to share all the fun things we do at preschool! I am always searching the internet for great ideas for preschool so I thought I would share my ideas too! I teach the 2 year old class but many of the projects we do are great for any age or can be adjusted a little for older children.
http://terrific2s.blogspot.com/

Jessica the Photographer

2008-07-13T22:11:00.000-07:00

So this is what a squirrel looks like through the eyes of a 4 year old. I let Jessica take some pictures with my camera while we were waiting for the boys and she saw a squirrel and took a bunch of pictures! I love the one of the side few of the squirrel it is running and she got a action shot!

Cheer Camp

2008-07-13T21:59:00.000-07:00

It was a week of camps Dad went to help at the boy scout camp, Jacob and Justin went to cub scout day camp, and then Jordan left for Cheer camp at UC Santa Cruz!

Cub Scout Day Camp

2008-07-13T21:41:00.001-07:00

Both the boys were able to attend cub scout day camp this year! They had so much fun! This year they had a pirate theme! I think this was the best year out of the 4 years Jacob has attended this camp. They had way better activities and projects for all the kids this time. Of course one of the highlight for the boys is always the archery! I think they had the most fun the last day were they had tons of activities set up carnival style and they got to run around and do what ever activities they chose. They even had a pudding eating contest and Justin won the chocolate contest and Jacob won the vanilla contest!

The one on the bottom is Justin. Now you know where boys learn to do crazy things like dog pile!What do girls do at cub scout camp? Chase butterflies of course! It is really hard to see but there really is a butterfly in the picture below. There were these huge butterflies just fling around us really low. I was fun to watch Jessie chase them.

Swimming with Friends July 7th

2008-07-13T21:35:00.000-07:00

It was so hot today I let the kids swim till 8 pm. I even got in the water to swim a few laps. The water was sparkling I tried to take a few picture of it. This first picture is Jessica getting ready to chicken fight Paul. LOL!

California Poppies

2008-07-13T21:29:00.000-07:00

Jacob our "science and nature boy" planted these poppies himself from seeds. It took a long time but they finally bloomed.

Costume Party

2008-07-10T18:12:00.000-07:00

Jessica went to a costume party today for her friend from church. She had a lot of fun and she chose to wear the "antique Snow White dress" that was her Auntie Kelly's. We have had this dress for ever Jessica is the 4 girl in our family to wear this supper cute Snow White dress. It was bought at Disneyland in the early 80's for Auntie Kelly, then Jordan wore it to Auntie Kelly's high school graduation, then Ariel got to wear it a lot, and the now Jessica is. It is amazingly in almost perfect condition too! It is quickly becoming a family heirloom.

July 4th

2008-07-10T17:53:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday America and my Dad!

All American Girls! Aren't they cute! We started our celebration at the church picnic. I had a thought to go to the parade the city puts on but sleeping in won over that thought. The picnic was great all the things you would expect at a great picnic: great food, bbq, country music, water rockets, baseball, water fight, tree climbing, watermelon eating contest and more.

Then we went to Moraga to watch the most awesome band ever!http://www.larrylynchandthemob.com/main.html

Jessica was so excited to see Grandpa Brian all the way from Missouri! The girls really wore him out dancing all night long! So many of my family members from both my mom and dad's family were there at the park it was great. It is s fun to see all my cousins with all there little children. We made special cupcakes for Grandpa's birthday to share with everyone. And of course we watched the fireworks too!

Quarry Lakes July 2nd

2008-07-10T17:42:00.000-07:00

Today we went to Quarry Lakes. We rode our bikes there and met some friends from church. It was a perfect day for hanging out at the lake. This place is really nice, a lake right in the middle of our city and you feel like your are far away at a lake. It has a nice beach area and shallow swimming area for even the youngest little ones to play safely in the water. The kids could play there forever in the sand and water.

We ended the day with a back yard hotdog and marshmellow roast! Jordan invited the youth from church over to roast marshmellows and make smores. So before they came I had the younger kids roast there own hot dogs for dinner!

San Francisco Exploratorium July 1st

2008-07-10T17:01:00.000-07:00

Today we went to the San Francisco exploratorium! We met our friends the Fairbanks there! Jordan snapped some pics of us crossing the Bay Bridge. There were so many activities for the kids to do I think we maybe only got through half of them. This is a great place to take the kids, especially kids 3-12 years old. It was a little chilly in the city today so we had our lunch in the car! And I got some cool pictures of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Cathching up with our busy week!

2008-06-28T21:36:00.001-07:00

Monday

work

It is Dr Seuss week at school and we made these cute hats today!

swim lessons

baseball at the park

and

Ice cream sundaes with the works

Tuesday

work

get dish washer fixed

swim lessons

Cub Scout campfire

Today I was driving home from work when I heard a popping sound in the back seat and I couldn't believe it was Jessica blowing bubbles with her gum! It was so cute! Se finally figured out how to blow a bubble. I remember her asking me how a couple weeks a go and I showed her the best I could. Here is picture of her bubble! I think she is trying really hard because her eyes are closed. LOL!

After 4 long years of waiting Justin is finally old enough to join the cub scouts. He has been waiting ever since Jacob was a tiger cub! June was his first month of den meetings and Tuesday he had his first pack meeting! We had a fun campfire at Garin Park.

Here is Justin and a few boys from his den doing the "wee" skit.

Justin receiving his bobcat award!

Jacob in his webelos uniform at the campfire.

Wednesday

get house sprayed for bugs!

work

Today the boys were able to come to work with me! Jessica was really excited to show off her big brothers to all her friends. They were great helpers and the children in my class loved playing with "big kids." Jacob and Justin each took a turn reading to the class during circle time.

orthodontist appointment

cheer practice

swim lessons

Thursday

work

Today was pajama day! And we had green eggs and ham for snack!

cheer practice

Yeah! last of day of swim lessons!

I can't even remember what else we did!

Friday

work

took the kids swimming

and I even swam with them! (I thought it would be good exercise!)

Surprise

My wonderful husband surprised me with a night out on the town! We went to San Francisco and drove around town then went to pier 39 and fisherman wharf and had some yummy clam chowder in a bread bowl and shrimp and crab cocktail. What a nice surprise! The weather was amazing too! Some nice even at night!

Saturday

Family Day!

Today went to the County Fair! We even got there before it opened!

Jessica's favorite part was all the great animals! She's willing to try anything even pet a big pig! Jordan's favorite part was the cute new cowboy hat she got! Justin's favorite part was riding the bull!

They were able to see a few things that they have never seen before a real horse race, and a roller derby what ever they call it?

Jessie had the best seat in the house! Daddy's shoulder's!

In the Garden

2008-06-22T18:51:00.001-07:00

I went out to water the garden today and found a wonderful zuchini! I decided we should make zuchini bread with it Jessica and Jacob where excited to help! Jacob shredded the entire zuchini and we haad enough to make two loaves, so we doubled the recipe! Jacob didn't think the bread would taste very good made out of zuchini but I told him lets just make it and see if you like. I remember thinking the same exact thing when I was his age. We to had a garden and my mom made zuchini bread from the zuchinis from our garden and it was our favorite bread we just loved it! So funny how history repeats it's self. Well it ends up Jacob also loved the bread!

Panda Day

2008-06-22T00:08:00.001-07:00

Friday while Jordan was at the concert we had a Panda Bear Day! We decided to beat the heat by going to the movies to see the new movie Kung Fu Panda! It was a cute movie for the kids with a good message in it. Then we met Judy and the girls at Panda Express for dinner. Then we went home and did a panda bear craft project and the boys researched pandas on the internet and each wrote a essay on interesting facts about panda bears. We decided it would be a good idea to go to the zoo the next day and see the panda bears for real! Then we could stop by Build a Bear and they could each build a panda bear to remember our great day. LOL yeah right you think we live in a perfect world of unlimited time and money! We stop at the dinner part I had you going there for a minute though! :)

ok but really I would do all those things if I could! Here are some more things to do:

make panda cupcakes!

go to the library and check out panda bear books! This book Panda Cake is one of my favorite books that my Dad used to read to me when I was little!

What a day!

2008-06-21T23:03:00.000-07:00

It is amazing how much you can do in one day! We started at 7am getting Jacob ready for his Boy Scout Hike at Point Reyes Made bows to match Jessie's cute new Gymboree shirt from her BFF Trinity! And more bows for Trinity and Julia.
Went to lunch with friends! We love sushi!

Beat the heat by hanging out at our favorite mall Valley Fair! Yes we took 5 kids and Jordan to the mall all day. Are we crazy? We are now! LOL Found some monsters for sale! oh I mean monster sales! LOL This sign was too funny. I had to take a few pictures of our monsters in front of it!Gotta wear shades!

$1.99 shades at The Children's PlaceJessica making brownies!
Of course we did all the boring stuff too 2 loads of laundry, dishes etc.

Lucky girl!

2008-06-21T22:37:00.000-07:00

Jordan and a group of friends got to go to the Brad Paisley, Chuck Wicks, Jewel, and Julianne Hough Concert last night! Her Auntie Kelly was there too and bought her this cute Chuck Wicks shirt!

Graduation

2008-06-21T22:17:00.001-07:00

A weekend of graduations Congratulations Garrett and Jordan! Garrett graduated from High School and Jordan from 8th grade. Jordan's school didn't do a formal promotion ceremony this year but the did have a Graduation dance below is her picture from before the dance. Garrett had a nice graduation here a bunch of family pictures! We are all so happy for Garrett! Garrett and his nieces.

We love you Uncle Garrett!
My little brothers!

My sisters!

Garrett and Jordan

Jordan just loves her Uncle Garrett!

Jordan before her graduation dance.

Swim Lessons

2008-06-21T22:09:00.001-07:00

Justin and Jessica started swim lessons last monday. They are loving it and learning so much. I am so happy with the swim school I chose this year. They are getting one on one lessons and have already learned so much in just 4 days of lessons!

Summer is Finally Here!

2008-06-18T21:58:00.000-07:00

Yea! Summer is finally here! Today was the last day of school! No more homework! and dragging the kids out of bed every morning. Here are a few highlights from last summer!

The Oakland A's Game

First time on the new Finding Nemo ride at Disneyland!

Of course Disneyland!

Cub Scout Camp

The San Francisco Aquarium

Bowling

We went bowling at least once or twice a week!

The Tide Pools!

This was so much fun!

Swimming and hanging out with Grandpa!

Playing with friends at Great America!

The playing at the beach!

Picking fruit!

Mom's favorite place Santa Cruz!

Playing miniature golf

Justin's Birthday

2008-06-16T17:53:00.001-07:00

Justin's Party at the lake and pics of Justin through the years!

Go JO JO!

2008-06-11T19:25:00.000-07:00

Our super amazing Jordan received the honor of Outstanding Leadership at her junior high yesterday. Out of all the kids in the entire school and of all the leadership commissioners this year the teachers and staff felt that she showed the best leadership qualities. Her name will be engraved on a plaque that is hanging in the school office. She worked really hard this year as the dance commissioner and planned all the dances this year including the decorations, games and activities at each dance and lots more on top of her 4.0 !

Then today she was asked to be a captian of the High School JV cheer Team!!!

Jessie's New Do

2008-06-11T17:02:00.000-07:00

My friend showed me a website with cute hair do's here is the first one we tried!

Tea Party

2008-06-11T16:57:00.000-07:00

So cute Jacob and Jessica getting ready for a tea party sometimes Jacob can be so sweet to his sister! Justin the neighbor boy and about 20 stuffed animals joined them! They had toast, water with sugar in it, and an array of Jessie's play food.

Crazy Hair Day

2008-06-11T16:50:00.000-07:00

It was crazy Hair Day today for Jacob and Justin and the only thing crazy about crazy hair day is mom running to Walgreens at 10:30 at night to get colored hair spray! And of course the store not having any left because it is the drugstore nearest to the school. What to do? So you wake up early and run to longs at 7:30 in the morning (luckily they had 1 can left) meet the kids at the back of the school and spray them real quick before they get on the school grounds. And this is what you get 2 smurfs!