Evan in paper

This is the second time Evan has been in the paper. He was in our local paper called The Daily Review. It was mid September and we had an early soccer game, we went to the apple festival two years ago and the boys enjoyed it so we went again. I saw a man with a big camera taking a picture of Evan so I asked him if he was with the newspaper and he said yes.

Evan's picture was in the San Jose Mercury News last year when they did an article about the boys' school offering full day kindergarten.

The boys' picture is also in our school districts parent handbook. I'll post that too!

I completed my 4th Half Marathon

On Sunday, October 5th I ran my fourth half marathon 13.1 miles! I was so excited because I ran my best time (2 hours and 27 minutes). I was a little surprised because I did not train as hard as I have for the last three and I have been eating like a pig lately and just got back on track with my healthy eating.

This week I tried a new exercise class (kickboxing!) It was fun and I think I am going to try it for a month.

I will be running my 5th half marathon in December in Las Vegas. I did it last year and loved it. The boys are so cute because before I could even get in the front door they are asking me if I won the race. I let them know that everyone who completes the run is a winner. They loved wearing my medal.

My Little Cub Scouts

MARCUS
JACKSON
EVAN LOOKING MAD

The boys and I decided to join cub scouts! There are seven boys in their den (3 are mine!) We will be meeting monthly and doing lots of fun activities.

1st Day of School

Well I am finally having some free time to blog. My PC is officially dead so I am trying to adjust to Craig's laptop. I am having to transfer pictures from CD's to the laptop and camera chip to laptop. Luckily my printer has a slot for camera chips so I get pictures from my printer to the laptop.

The first day of school (August 27th) went well. The boys' classrooms are next to each other so I walked each one to their line and then tried to decide who to stand with! When I looked over at Evan he was looking a little scared so I went over to him. Now the routine is to walk each one to their line give each one a hug and kiss goodbye and leave.

Busy, Busy. Busy

Okay, I know it has been awhile since I posted but I have been extremely busy. Of course it did not help that my computer crashed, I panicked and did a system recovery and lost everything on my computer. I don't think it was a coincidence that I had three six year olds and two pre-teens on-line the day my computer went beserk. I have come to the conclusion that the boys need their own computer! I am trying to decide if I can work on a laptop.

I went back to work two weeks ago and it has been hard after being on vacation for 8 weeks. My sister Rose was in the hospital twice and almost had her new kidney and pancreas but it did not happen. We are in full swing of our soccer season and tomorrow is the first day of 1st grade for the boys!

Day 2 of Vacation

Our 2nd day of vacation we went on a family cruise on the Southern Belle Riverboat. We had lunch on the boat and had a nice view traveling down the Tennessee River. The boys and Katherine sat in the Captains helm and the boys asked some good questions. How far did we go down the river, were there sharks in the water and was the water salt water or freshwater?

We then went to Incline Railway which is the worlds steepest passenger railway. It takes you up to Lookout Mountain where on a clear day you can see the Great Smoky Mountains which are 100 miles away. Of course we get up to the top and the boys say "Can we go back down now?" They are to young to appreciate the view and they were to jet lagged to walk to the bluff where General Ulysses S. Grant stood! I know their limits so luckily Craig did not mind going back to the hotel with the boys while Katherine and I continued on to Rock City. We had to pass on Ruby Falls because we did not have time but I figured we may never be in Tennessee again so I wanted to do as much as possible. Rock City was absolutely amazing! From the top of Rock City you can see seven states, Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, North & South Carolina, Tennessee and Virgina. The massive rock formations were spectacular, there are two gigantic boulders called fat man's squeeze because you can barely fit between them to walk through. We walked across a swing-along bridge and walked under a 1,000 ton rock balanced by another. The evening was spent with all the Harper's.

Vacation Day 1

We arrived in Atlanta at 2:45 PM and as soon as we walked outside we could feel the stiffling heat and immediately began sweating! I knew the plane would be cool so we were wearing jeans and long sleeve shirts! Craig's parents, Uncle and Cousin got in around the same time we did so we saw them at the car rental site. We had a two hour drive to Chattanooga, TN so we stopped at Chick-Fil-A to eat, Chickfila is a fast food place but it was really nice inside. The drive to TN was pretty, lots of green trees. We also noticed a food place called Waffle House, there were tons of them so we commented we would have to eventually eat there because Evan loves waffles. We arrived at the hotel and began three days of Harper Family Reunion events. This was our first time meeting many of the family members at the Reunion and they were so sweet!

Around 9:00 PM we decided to get a bite to eat before we went to bed so we got in the car thinking we would find a fast food place. We were wrong! We drove around for about 1/2 hour and did not see one fast food place. Were we in the twilight zone! This was definitely not Californina with a McDonalds and Starbucks on every corner! We finally got on the freeway (Craig's Aunts call it the bypass or highway) and found a crusty Wendy's (I did not eat).

Back from vacation!

Well we are back from our five state tour of visiting family and sightseeing. We got home Saturday night and I spent all of Sunday resting and putting our clothes away. I was able to do laundry while we were away so I did not have to do to much laundry when we got home. The boys got a wii for their birthday so they spent the day playing with their new toy! We had to to pry them away from it to eat lunch and dinner!

As soon as I organize my pictures I am going to add highlights from each day of our trip and a slide show of all the pictures.

Proud Auntie

I had three nieces graduate this year, Alayna promoted to high school (Logan!) Katherine graduated from Tennyson High School (will be attending San Francisco City College) and Jessica graduated from San Diego State (will go to graduate school and get her teaching credential in History)

Taking Turns

I took this picture of the boys because they were being so good at taking turns. Marcus was on the computer doing Yahoo kids, Evan was playing the Leapster TV games and Jackson was playing the PSP. Every 15 minutes they would switch games, hopefully this lasts forever! You can see the dog napping on the couch.

My oldest baby loses his first teeth

Marcus was complaining that his teeth were hurting and when I looked in his mouth he had a tooth behind his baby teeth! We happened to be going to the dentist for teeth cleaning so they let me know they would have to pull two baby teeth to make room for the new tooth. I just about cried because I hate going to the dentist and have had teeth pulled! Luckily they go to a pediatric dentist who does not let parents go in the exam rooms unless your child is crying. I probably would have paniced him. He came out smiling, did not even know he was given a shot and did not cry one tear! He was proud to have his teeth pulled and felt like a big boy. This is just one more milestone of my boys getting older by the minute. 20 days until they turn 6! Unfortunately the dentist said they will probably have to pull more teeth in 3 months because there is not enough space for the other tooth that will also be coming soon.

The Harpers

Pictures for Lillian Carol (Harper) The boys with their Grandmom and cousin Rylie, Easter Sunday.
Camille & Rylie
The boys and Rylie with their Grandad

Family

Us - one month until the boys turn six

My siblings - Rose, Rena, Ernie, Me, Renee & Becky

Swim Lessons

The boys just completed their 1st week of swim lessons. They are doing great, Jackson goes all out, is not afraid to put his head under water. Evan is cautious and reserved and does not like putting his head under the water and Marcus is in between. Next week we are going to stay for the recreation swim and see how they do!

We were almost late for swim today because two of they boys got stuck in the shower! The shower doors some how got stuck and would not open. I tried putting them back on the track and it would not budge, I tried taking the shower doors apart and that did not work. I finally had to hand them a stool over the shower and lift them out over the top! Jackson suggested I call the police to get them out and I was glad I did not have to call anyone.

Exercising with the boys

I now love to exercise and so to incorporate the boys in to my exercise I got this attachment for my bike. Of course I have to go for three bike rides but it gives me one on one time with each son. The first time I went the same route with each one (five miles each). Two of the three made almost the same exact comment at the same exact spot! Trippy so I could not wait for the third ride but Evan did not follow suit. It was fun just to hear them talk and not be interrupted by a brother. We rode to Coyote Hills and saw all types of birds, flowers, a dead squirrel and a view of Dumbarton Bridge.

Heat

It was so hot this weekend we had to eat dinner outside and sleep downstairs! To make matters worse there wasn't even a breeze to cool us down. The boys had a blast on their slip and slide which we discovered works better on the front lawn with the slight slope they can go faster and further.
The picture of me and Jackson was taken by Marcus.

Track & Field Camp

Summer Break is Finally Here

Today was our first real day of summer break. Me and the boys went to four stores this morning! This shows me they are really maturing, I could never go to four stores with them in tow. First we went to REI to get them an adventure passport, then to Wal-Mart for water shoes, Old Navy (to find a dress just like Dusty's) and then to JCPenny to get them summer shorts. They also started Track & Field Camp at Logan and they were the littlest ones out there and so cute!

Alayna & Katherine's Graduations

Ivans 40th Birthday - Las Vegas

Senior Ball 2008

Here are some pictures from the Senior Ball May 2008