Morning announcement

Miles gets to make the morning announcements at Alta Vista a couple of times... I won it for him at our school auction.

Oliver rides his bike without training wheels

Yay Ollie! Nice work buddy!

Ice skating at The Winter Lodge

A morning of ice skating with friends from school... so much fun! They even had a fake snow machine (that's not mass dandruff in my hair) - love!

Halloween 2012

Miles and his 1st grade girl friends

Look at that smile... he loves his girl friends

Oliver and Marcus

Trick or treat

Light go on!

Oliver has a little night light in his room that is attached to a timer.

Yes, this is in lieu of a real clock folks. He's (almost) 4 - he can't read a clock yet.

The light goes on at the time he is supposed to get up - or rather - when he is allowed to come out of his room. Don't judge - when you have kids who get up super early, you have to come up with stuff like this.

Right now the timer light is set for 7:00am.

A few mornings ago at about 6:58am, I hear very quiet chanting coming from Oliver's room. I couldn't make out what he was saying, so I tip-toed over to his door and what did I hear...

The little man was chanting "Light go on! Light go on! Light go on!"
LMAO.
Too cute.

John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt

Turn your head for this one...

Jingle Bells

Hula hoopin

Miles clearly got his hula hoop skillz from his dad

Seattle surprise, part deux

Last Thursday, I hopped on a plane and flew to Seattle to spend a quick 2 days with my parents and my sister (who was there for a business trip). The fun part is that my parents didn't know I was coming. :)

My sister and I coordinated our flights so that we arrived at the same time. When my parents picked up my sister from the airport she pretended to forget something in the baggage claim and that is where I come in...

Needless to say, my parents were very surprised - especially my mom! The video says it all... it was SO MUCH FUN! (Make sure you turn the volume on.)



This is the second time we've surprised them like this... it was a wonderful, quick trip. I was able to work remotely, go on wonderful long walks, eat great dinners, and drink too many fresh lime margaritas. Nothing beats time with family!

Mother's Day 2011

A late post about my lovely Mother's Day weekend... but it was such a good one, so I thought I would share. On Saturday afternoon before Mother's Day, I was lucky to get an amazing massage and spend some quality time with a friend while Derek took the kids to SF for a birthday party. When I got home from my afternoon "off", the boys were still up in SF. The house was so still and quiet... I honestly (and sadly) didn't know what to do with myself. I loved the peace and quiet, but I really started to miss them!

On Sunday, we went to San Francisco for a Giants baseball game and they were playing the Colorado Rockies which made it fun! Even though I was born and raised in Colorado, I am NOT a Rockies fan. The Rockies came to Colorado when I was in college and then shortly after that I moved to SF, so I was never a Rockies fan. I am actually a Giants fan! But - I am and always be a Denver Broncos fan! ;)

We had a great time at the game... the boys loved the cable car that they have there as well as the Coke bottle slides. Derek and I took turns keeping them entertained as they had NO desire to watch the game. We managed to stay the entire game and after the game they let kids and moms run the bases - which was a treat!


After the game, we met up with Uncle Kevin for pizza and he gave Oliver a new stuffed hamburger that he bought for him. (Ummm, random? LOL.) Of course Oliver LOVED it and made sure he showed it to everyone at the restaurant... he put it in his t-shirt and walked around like he had a baby in his tummy. He's TOO much and I have NO clue where he gets his crazy personality (LOL).

Here's a picture I took of him that night asleep in his bed cuddling with this hamburger. (Yes, I had to turn on the light... he didn't wake up! WOO WOO)

Overall, it was a great Mother's Day. I am so blessed to have two healthy and happy (most of the time) boys who love me so much (most of the time). :)

Cinco de Mayo

Miles' school celebrated Cinco de Mayo today with a Mexican Hat Dance. It was adorable and he had so much fun!


They wore sombreros that they each painted themselves in class. And afterward, they served the parents chips and homemade salsa! YUM! I was only slightly disappointed they didn't have margaritas! HA - kidding! I continue to be so impressed by our local public school... The teachers always do such amazing and fun things for the kids! I feel so lucky that my kids get to go to school here. The suburbs rock!

Here are a few videos (from my iPhone - not great quality) of the dances they did... Miles was paired up with his friend Avery.

Mexican Hat Dance


The Chicken Dance


The Macarena

Swimming lesson update

Wow - what a difference a week makes...

After a tiny bit of clinging to daddy... he got into the water and eventually let Miss Ashley take him for a swim.



And he even put his face in the water (if you want to call it that - LOL)

Good job Ollie bug!!!

San Francisco treat

While Derek and I both miss living in San Francisco, however, living only one hour away makes us appreciate it even more -- and we often take the kids up there for the day as a special treat. I love that they get super excited to go up there... and we get pretty excited too! And, I will say that at the end of the day, I am happy to head back to the burbs where the pace is a bit slower and parking spots are a little easier to come by. ;)

Yesterday we drove up to SF and met the Mauch's for lunch. Mr. Henry is so stinkin' cute and I just love seeing him walking around. New walkers are just the cutest... with their cute baby butts sticking out and hands in the air - I just want to squeeze him!

{Henry giving me stink face at lunch - too cute!}

After lunch I hopped on the N Juddah (MUNI) with the boys and we rode it over to Duboce Park (our old stompin grounds). Miles is obsessed with anything that resembles a train... so the MUNI is one of his favorite things to do in SF. The boys ended up playing at the playground at Duboce Park for almost 1.5 hours! They made a new friend, Jackson, who was an awesome 8 year old... and I think his mom was more than happy that Jackson had some new friends as we caught her napping (!!) while they were playing! LOL.


Funny Oliver story - Oliver is rather obsessed with sticks and he found a stick that he couldn't part with. However, when he's running around a playground, I don't let him run around with his sharp sticks. So, he handed it to Derek and said "DO NOT PUT IT DOWN." Well, Derek put it down (WTF) and some man sat down next to us and grabbed the stick! LMAO. We didn't know what to do since it seemed a bit ridiculous to ask the man for the stick back. However, the man was close to snapping the stick in half and we knew that Oliver was going to throw a total shit fit. So, Derek finally said to the man "Excuse me, do you mind not breaking that stick? Our son will freak out!" (LOL) And the man said "Oh my gosh, I am so sorry... I wasn't even thinking." He continued to say "I totally understand... check this out"... and he pulled a stick out of his pocket! LOL - it's good to know that other parents have stick obsessed children!


After the park, we decided to treat the boys to sundae's at Ghiradelli. Derek and I didn't get anything and our boys were pretty reluctant to share these gigantic "kids" sundaes which are almost bigger than their heads! You can only imagine the sugar crash after these! Note to self: Get the boys to share a kids sundae next time.

Swimming lesson report

Well, it turns out that Oliver seems to be following in his big brother's footsteps... he wanted NOTHING to do with swim lessons once it was time to go into the pool. This picture pretty much says it all.


I've never seen Oliver hold onto Derek so tight. I was able to coax him over to the pool steps where he happily played with some water toys but he wanted NOTHING to do with his instructor, Miss Ashley, or the other kids. He did give Miss Ashley a big high five at the end of class and she managed to get him into the pool.

He was more than happy to shower at the end of the lesson. And, the next day he said, "I want to go to swimming again today." Ummm... really?? I really can't believe that we might have another chicken sh#$ on our hands... he's starting mommy & me soccer in a few weeks... it should be interesting!

I'm back!!!

{Headed to a Chinese New Year party. February, 2011. And, yes, this is Oliver's "real" smile.}

Wow, I can't believe how long it has been since I've blogged. Seriously, I am so lame. I am going to get back on the saddle again. :) So, what's up with the Lu Crew...

Miles started playing t-ball this spring. He was very shy at first, but he's finally warmed up to it and has a ball out here. Much to Derek's chagrin, he's on the Rangers.

{T-ball, Spring 2011}

Miles and Oliver start swim lessons today... in prep for the summer ahead. Oliver is very excited because it's the first time he gets to take a lesson all by himself (meaning that Derek doesn't have to get in the pool with him -- I think Derek is excited about that fact too.) The funny thing is that all Oliver keeps talking about is the part at the end of the lesson where they get to stand under the showers and rinse off. You gotta love the little things that kids get excited about! Anyhow, I am curious to see if Oliver will follow in Miles' footsteps and get totally shy when it's time to go into the pool or not. I will let you know.

First soccer game

Miles had his first soccer game on Saturday and it was adorable and hilarious. The kids basically run themselves ragged for four 8 minute quarters. They all swarm the ball and I even witnessed a certain kid (uh hem, Miles) taking the ball from his own teammate! LOL Of course, most of them have no clue what they are doing and they are just out there having fun. I am pretty sure that the other team out scored us by at least 5 goals - but who is keeping track. ;)

At one point in the game, Miles ran over to me on the sideline and gave me a hug. So sweet, but I had to remind him that he was playing a game!

He seemed to love it and the best part was probably getting a fruit roll-up and a juice after the game! LOL

{Post game - some seriously red cheeks from all that running and the kid sweats like crazy - like his mommy and daddy!}

Fore!

Derek took Miles and Oliver to the golf range on Sunday to hit some balls. It was the first time for Oliver and they had a blast.

Here is the future Phil Mickelson -- left handed and all!

Kindergarten and soccer

I am so excited that fall is upon us... it's my favorite time of the year! I love the crisp, cool air... I love back to school time (especially shopping for new clothes)... I love Halloween! Oh, and let's not forget my birthday! LOL

Miles is on week # 3 of kindergarten and he's loving it. It was a bit of a transition after being at Layla's for 4 years, but it seems like he's enjoying his new routine. He practically runs to school in the morning while the rest of us try to keep up. And he seems to be making lots of new friends. I just laugh at the fact that he's made friends with almost all of the girls in his class. When I ask him who he's friends with - he always names off girls. He's just a sweet little boy who likes hanging out with sweet girls. LOL.

But, don't you worry that he's going to start being into fashion, etc. He could care less. Just last week, one of his girl friends ran up to him before school and said "Miles, Miles... look at my new shoes!!!" And he said "Oh."

He also started playing soccer on a team for the first time. He had his first practice on Friday night and it was a rocky start of him hiding behind me with his head practically buried inside of my butt. But, slowly he got over his shyness and did some drills and scrimmaged and he looked like he had a great time. It was comical watching 12 boys fighting each other for the ball. Go Tornadoes!

Oh Oliver...

Here's a funny Oliver story...

Last night I was laying in his bed with him and I said "Was Anya at school today?"
and he said "Yes"
and then he said "Actually, she wasn't" (I was impressed that he used the word actually).
He said "She is in Kentucky with her grandma Judy."
And I said "Do you want to go on a trip with your grandma?"
And he said "No, I want to go to Kentucky with Miles, and Daddy, and Mommy".
Then he said "Actually, you and Miles can stay here. I will go with daddy"

LOL

Mommy and Miles = chopped liver

Cherry picking in Morgan Hill

{All of the kids from Layla's}

We spent Saturday morning cherry picking in Morgan Hill at Andy's Farm with all of the kids from Miles and Oliver's school. The kids absolutely loved it -- we got to taste 20 different kinds of cherries, including chocolate covered cherries, and then we got to walk around the entire cherry orchard picking as many cherries as we wanted. Miles and Oliver were both enjoying filling up their buckets and we left with 10 pounds of cherries ($25!)