On Sunday, November 9th we celebrated my mom's 60th birthday. My dad and I threw her a surprise brunch with 25 of our family and friends at WildFox in Novato. Though she had a feeling *something* was up (she's way tooo smart), we all had a great time!!!
Halloween just gets more fun each year for the kids. This year we went to my mom's annual Kermes Festival at her school, carved some awesome pumpkins, and went trick-o-treating in Hercules.
Maya was Scooby
Sydney was Velma
Nyomi was Daphne
and Jonah was Fred.
(I was Bat-mom).
Each time I've thought about blogging in the past few months something else has come up. Not that I don't love to write about my life and the lives of my kidlets, it just hasn't happened! It's kind of like my photo albums, I'm about 5 months behind. Thank god for Shutterfly who makes it sooo easy for me to order pictures at any point in time.
Starting with moi. I'm 3 1/2 months into my new job at the City of Berkeley and I love it. After 9 years of working in the same field I'm sooo happy each day that I chose the right one. I love having my Master's degree and don't miss attending school one single bit. I joined the YMCA and LOVE going to the gym. Still a vegan and though I occasionally miss cheese, I love animals more. I love my new car and am looking forward to the arrival of my first personalized plate since VLNTN BB, which is PXSY DST.
Nyomi is a super duper 2nd grader. She'll be 7 in a couple of weeks and is having her first sleepover party. Nyomi is still very petite, but finally lost 2 teeth! She's a great help to me and has matured so much since she started school again. She struggles in reading, but we are practicing every day.
Jonah is an amazing little dude. Since he started his pre-K year in Carolyn's class he's really matured. He's reading now, like really reading, and loves words and numbers. He's a little sponge and spends a lot of time asking questions like "What does that say" or "What is the date?". He even tells time. He's a very calm loving person and has a hug and kiss for me whenever I want one...except when the bus comes and then he prefers to just wave goodbye and get on his way.
Maya is a little rockstar. She speaks using the word "we" as in "we want dessert" or "we want to read books" for her little group and is never questioned by her siblings. Maya gets the most frustrated when she doesn't get her way (like Nyomi use to) and is learning that crying doesn't get your way. She's got the most wild raw energy and loves being unique. She loves soccer and all things scary. At heart she's still a little girl, of course, and I'm reminded of that when she wants to do things just like mom and loves to cuddle.
Sydney is just an angel. She shares her love very openly. Sydney will tear up most every morning that I have to go to work and loves her siblings so much. She always will share with them and help them with anything they want. Syd is the biggest of the 'trio' and is also the most coordinated. She can do headstands and somersaults and writes her name really well.
It's hard for me to imagine MSJ in Kindergarten next year and like I did when Nyomi started school, I will probably cry on their first day of Kindergarten. I love them all more than I ever imagined possible and every day is such a joy with them.
I promise I will try to write more often. Here's a few pictures from the last couple of months.
The pictures are all from our trip to So Cal a couple of weeks back.
Cousin Michele got married and in addition to the amazing wedding we also went to Disneyland!!
First, for all my family and friends SORRY it's been sooo long since I posted. Since I graduated it's just been a whirlwind summer so far.
To summarize:
- Nyomi graduated from 1st grade with flying colors and is now in a Young Actors Workshop that is put on through the Pinole Community Theatre. It is for children ages 6-12 and the very talented crew are putting on "Annie". Performances will be held on August 1-3. We LOVE Annie and I am so excited for Nyomi who has been talking about Musical Theatre for years!
- Maya finished her first year of preschool and is summer camp 3 afternoons a week with Sydney and Jonah at Pinole Tiny Tots. This summers theme is "On the Farm". She is almost 1 year post-surgery and is an amazing miracle!
- Sydney is enjoying summer camp with her siblings and is also taking Swim lessons two nites a week at Canyon Pool with all of her siblings. Swim lessons are a BLAST and all 4 kids are doing sooo well.
- Jonah too finished his first year of preschool with Carolyn at Downer and is doing fantastically well at Maya and Sydney's preschool for Summer Camp. He's finally potty-trained and has caught up soo much in his speech. He will go to Carolyn's class again next year for Pre-K and take the bus with Shirley.
- I, after 8 1/2 years at UC Berkeley am starting a new chapter in my career. Tomorrow!!! I will be ther new City Records Manager for the City of Berkeley. I am very excited, albeit nervous, to take on this exciting and sure to be rewarding challenge.
What else...Aline, our amazing Au Pair is about to start her last week with our family. Her 2 years with us has been a joy and we know that when she begins going to school full time next month and living in El Sobrante, the kids will continue their relationship with her. Our new Au Pair, Sarah will be joining our family on August 1st. We are VERY excited for her arrival from Finland and can't wait to meet her!!
Everyone else is great!! We just got back from an exciting vacation in Yosemite with my parents and David. Here are some pictures. We rented a house in the Redwoods and just had a blast visiting all the sites in Yosemite...still one of my most favorite places in the world!
May 17, 2008, the day that's been on my calendar since last year came! My convocation ceremony at Parkside Hall in downtown San Jose for my Master's Degree in Library and Information Science! I was quite surprised I didn't cry during the ceremony considering I've shed a few tears of joy in the past couple of months.
It was a perfect graduation. I love the Director of our school! There were sooo many Professors up on the stage and they just made all of us graduates feel so special and honored.
I got hooded by the commencement speaker Stephen Abram and shook hands and got my certificate from Dr. Haycock, the Director of SLIS (School of Library and Information Science).
The kids were great and as I walked across the stage it was such an honor to have all the people I love most in the world clapping for me!!
After the yummy classy reception we drove back to Berkeley to eat at what I considered the quintessential graduation restaurant, Skates by the Bay on the Berkeley Marina. We had a fabulous table, with awesome Bay views.
I couldn't have dreamed of a more perfect day! Oh, and we all looked fabulous! I bought the kids all new outfits (and myself one too!).
I am now a REAL LIBRARIAN!! :)
I got a letter from Nyomi's school saying she was getting an award at the awards assembly on May 13th at her school. We didn't know what award she was getting, but of course we all went! I even bought her a boquet of flowers.
Nyomi got the Academic Achievement Award for March 2008!!
Just the day after Maya, Sydney, and Jonah's birthday party (on May 10th) was Mother's Day! Me, the kids, and my parents went out to a really lovely lunch at an Italian Restaurant on the water in Richmond.
My princesses and prince turned 4 years old on May 11th!!! I'm sooo happy for them and we just had the best birthday celebration. I rented a castle jumper which arrived promptly at 8:00 am on the day of their party. Thr birthday party didn't start until noon, but I knew the kids would love having the castle all day long! With 4 kids and a jumper, the party started way before anyone arrived. The party was just perfect!
We won a Dominos Pizza Party from a contest I entered...they were looking for triplets turning 4 in April or May as a promotion for their new 4-4-4 deal. Not only did they supply us with 19 large pizzas, but we also won $1,000 in Pizza Gift Certificates!! We love Dominos!!!
The party also included a real Pirate from the Magic Princess Company. She was just wonderful and did a really awesome Magic Show, Face Painting, and Balloon Animals! The kids got some wonderful gifts that are sure to entertain them all summer long! I think next year we will outsource the party. Nyomi already knows she wants a sleepover for her 7th birthday (did I just write 7!!), so with 2 house parties in one year, it'll be time for an offsite party!
Thank you to everyone that came to help us celebrate 3 very important birthdays!!
Cal Day is an annual event held on the UC Berkeley campus. The equivilent would be Open House at any K-12 school. There are always tons of things for children and this year I decided to take the kids. We invited Sam along too. Not surprising the highlights were the reptiles at the Valley Life Science Building (I was a little surprised that all the kids held snakes!) and the face painting!
**Don't forget, you can double click on any picture to see it larger**
I'm back tracking to March, but I wanted to include some pictures of making Hamentashan with Grandma for Purim!
Here's some information on Purim: http://www.jewfaq.org/holiday9.htm
