Ten years ago today, right about now, we welcomed this little beauty into the world:
And today we have this lovely lady celebrating her 10th birthday!
Time for our yearly measuring:
She decided she wanted her ears pierced, so I took her down to the jewlery store to have them done. She was very brave:
But I think it stung a little more than she was expecting!
But overall I think she was pleased.
Happy birthday Becca Boo!
Last year, Jaden told us he wanted to join Cub Scouts. As involved with Girl Scouts as Rebecca and I are, I have to admit - I was hesitate to sign him up with this group due to an ugly issue (which is hopefully changing even as I type!!). From Day One, he wanted to build a car and race it in the Pine Wood Derby. I took him to an Open House (so he could see it was more than just the PWD) and when he saw all the other cool things he'd be doing (camping! hiking! cake decorating!) he was IN. We signed him up for Summer Cub Scout camp just to be sure, and he spent the hottest week with my dad & mom at the fairgrounds learning archery, shooting BB guns, and just having the best time.
Fast forward to the end of December/beginning of January. Jaden and Pepe (and Rebecca too) have been working on their cars.
Jaden with his car "The Lava Rocket." He was not feeling well today, hence the sunken eyes =(
A picture of the track
Locked and loaded! (Jaden's car is on the far left track)
And they're off!
To make it fair, each car raced on each of the 6 tracks. The times were recorded electronically and results flashed up on the screen - this is very serious stuff!
Jaden's car came in 3rd overall. =)
After all the racing, the den of boys voted for their favorite car - and Jaden won "Best in Show!"
Jaden (Best in Show) and Matthew (1st place winner for their den).
When all the dens finished their races, it was time for the sibling parents races!
Pepe's Car, the Black Knight
It had a little trouble (too much weight in the back) and kept popping off the track.
Rebecca's car: Lambchop!
The three racers: The Lava Rocket, the Black Knight, and Lambchop
Jaden has already informed Pepe they need to start working on next year's car during the summer!!
I've neglected this blog for 6 months. I know I probably won't be good about going back to update the last 6 months, so I am just going to start now and really try...
Jaden was selected Citizen of the Month for January, but due to snow, his ceremony got pushed to to February 1. They used to select 2 kids from each class, but due to a lack of finding good candidates time constraints, now only 1 child per class is nominated.
So proud of this kid!
Seems I have a sort of quarterly update thing going on over here...
In May, Jaden took his first golf lessons at Pax and really enjoyed it... although he keeps asking when he can "play the holes."
His instructor wasn't too hard on the eyes either! ;)
Anywhooooooo... he moved through the chipping, putting, and driving stations each week.
Both Rebecca and Jaden are playing lacrosse this spring. It's been a lot of fun to watch them.
Rebecca's team is the Fightin' Shamrocks (they were supposed to have green shirts).
Score!
Jaden joined the Warriors this season. While the rules are a slightly different, it's just as fun to watch. He's #42. Most of the time I can tell which one he is by is orange mouthguard ;)
Almost a goal! (it bounced off the pole)
And I was sooooooo sure I was going to be better about updating this year!
Let's see.... so far in 2012:
We attended Rebecca's Winter Concert (she's in the waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay back behind the girl with the red flower in her hair):
Jaden decided he wanted to take a break from soccer this spring and do lacrosse, so he participated in a lacrosse clinic to make sure before we took the equipment plunge ;)
Then we celebrated my birthday in Massanutten with good friends, the Kovach's. On Friday, we arrived and immediately headed to the indoor waterpark.
Then it was time to ski on Saturday. We enrolled best buddies Jaden and Jack in ski school while Katelyn & Rebecca took group lessons. By the afternoon, we'd all gotten used to being on skis and John & I managed to get all 4 kids up the lift several times!
We got home in time for my actual birthday, the Superbowl (go Pats!) and to pick up our newest family member, Chip the Cat.
Yes, you read that right, we finally gave in and let Rebecca get a kitten for her birthday. =)
This wave of insanity continued as we celebrated Rebecca's 9th birthday with her first slumber party, featuring an ice cream buffet and staying up until 11 (and getting up at 6am the next morning). =)
More updates to come (and hopefully more frequently than on a quarterly basis. ;) )
Rebecca is learning to play violin:
and was on the Principal's Honor Roll (for all A's on her report card)
Jaden was named Citizen of the Month (Dec) and we were so proud of him!
Wheezer made gingerbread houses with Jaden's class:
And sleighs with Rebecca's:
This year we went up to Massachusetts for the Page Hayride:
and the kids got to play with Page cousins:
and spend time with Nana:
Then it was time for Santa!
This October, I was lucky to join Chris at Disney's Wine & Dine Half-Marathon. By joined, I mean, I accompanied him down there while he actually did the running =)
He had a great time and we actually had a relaxing vacation at WDW!
Did I ever mention Rebecca tried out for and was selected to play on the U9 Girl's Travel Soccer Team, called the Blast?
Here she is as a striker, but she also really enjoys playing goalie:
Jaden played this year too - meet the Lava Tigers:
As soccer winded down, we had a mild Halloween, allowing the kids to dress up as a vampire (Rebecca) and Anakin Skywalker (Jaden).
We came home from Hawaii just in time for the kids to start school (Jaden in Kindergarten and Rebecca in 3rd grade):
and of course, an earthquake and hurricane Irene, which caused us to delay celebrating Jaden's birthday party;)
Originally he was going to have a movie theater party, but because of the storm, we moved it to a local playground and had a huge kickball game which turned out to be a ton of fun:
On our last day in Hawaii, we met Jess and her son Mason again at the Bishop Museum, a museum full of Hawaiian artifacts (and a dinosaur exhibit too, which is how we got the kids to let us enjoy the Hawaiian part of it, hahaha).
For instance, all these ceremonial pieces were actually made from feathers from a bird that is now extinct:
After the kids couldn't take it anymore, we brought them over to the interactive science part of the museum, where they could learn about volcanoes, etc:
We said goodbye to Jess and went back for a few more pictures on the beach
And as we left for the airport, we saw one last Hawaiian rainbow, which was ironic as we were greeted by one when we got here:
