2011

Oh my, it has really been a year since I have updated our blog. What at year it has been....

Jordan just turned 14 and will be graduating middle school next week. Oh my goodness, what a beautiful young woman we have. She has her first "boyfriend", and we are seeing her blossom into teenage-hood. It is scary and exciting all at the same time. She played basketball and softball this year, and did really well in both. It will be fun to watch her at Salinas High next year getting more and more competitive. She tested for GATE at Salinas High and was accepted into their program. As always, she is wonderful with the other kids and we feel complete when she is with us.

Anthony is crazy as ever, at least when it comes to sports. He played soccer, basketball and baseball this year, although you can tell his love is baseball. I don't know if it is because daddy coaches baseball, and he loves everything daddy loves, or if this will really be his sport. Every homework assignment some how is about the Giants or Posey or playing catch. It is so fun to watch him play, he is seriously into the game, he loves balls and strikes and outs and close plays. We have had a couple of conversations with him about "not arguing with calls", and letting the parents make the calls. He is SO into the game, it is hilarious. The key is encouraging his passion for the game, yet keeping him respectful of adults!! He received all "4"s in his report card.. which is great! His teacher noted that his competitive athletic nature is also carried into the classroom. YEAH! At least it doesn't die on the ball field.

Then there is our Jacky-Boy. Or Ferdinand the Bull I like to call him. I take him to karate and he is so strong and athletic. He can do a ton of real push ups, kick the crap out of the karate guards, and then he cries to me because he misses his great nan. All of the mothers in his pre-school class LOVE him because he is polite, sweet, and sensitive. I think I could set up multiple pre-arranged marriages if I needed to. He is definitely ready for kindergarten. He has gotten bored with pre-school, and is ready for a challenge. I love his incredible imagination.

And for the great finale is our Alexandra. This was an incredibly challenging year with her. She is seriously head strong, and seriously smart. She hasn't turned 3 yet, but somehow knows how to express herself so well, and how to push mommy and daddy's buttons. Only in the last month, she has been slowly coming out of her "fight mode", and is learning how to behave to get her way. I guess we never really had the terrible two's with the boys, so we are getting it in 3-fold with Alex. I swear I look at her and I can imagine her as a teenager already. She loves sports like her brothers, except she plays them in a dress, because then she looks "fabulous", in Alex's words. She loves Beyonce and Pink, and has a matching attitude.

Hope all is well with each of you. We are healthy and happy, so we can't ask for too much more.

feb pics

New Year!!

2010!! Could it really be? That means I graduated college 10 years ago? No way, I am still in my twenties! :)

Here are some updates for the new year. We will start with the oldest: he he...

Phil is doing well. Getting ready to start baseball season. Hopefully he will have another successful year. He has kept himself busy with 49er and Sharks games, Guitar Hero with the kids, and his favorite past time...movies!! I think he is ready to get this baseball thing going. Nothing beats the smell of fresh cut grass and the sound of the bat and ball! He thoroughly enjoys grooming his field, so I am sure he is ready to start up that john deer.

Kacey (me), well I am doing pretty well. I am ready to begin a new year taking care of myself. With no more nursing babies or pregnancies my way (unless God plays a serious joke on us), I am focused on getting my body back on track. My mental health is so connected to my physical health, I need to make it a priority, not to mention I need some serious energy to keep up with these kids!

Work has been fun and fulfilling. 20 hours a week has been a good fit, I just wish I could take Fridays off. I also work one day a week at Jack's Preschool. It is so fun to spend that time with him.

Now to the kids: Jordan is almost a TEENAGER!! I feel like I always say the same things about her, but they are always true. She is caring and beautiful. I love talking to her about middle school stuff (you recall don't you?). She has her little crushes, and has issues with her friends, but when she talks I have complete confidence in how she handles herself. I really enjoy just listening to her. She is playing basketball and does really well.

On to my big kindergartener, Anthony. You might be able to tell in our more recent pictures, but he is smiling less and doing more "manly" expressions. I want to smack him across the head sometimes. I don't know if that's what he thinks is cool, but for a mother that LOVES his smile, I want to smack him. When I pick him up from school, he and his friends go crazy in the front lawn of the school, bumping bellies, or tackling eachother. I figure it takes all of his might to behave himself at school (which he does). He is starting to read, and it is so exciting to watch. He had his first basketball game the other day...hilarious.

Jack just had his fourth birthday. Where Anthony likes to do everything daddy does, Jack much prefers to be by me. He and Alex spend their mornings together before he goes to school, and you can tell they have a special relationship. We had to pull him away from a lot of HER christmas gifts. He is starting a stuffed animal "cowection", and loves anything soft and warm. Some nights he wakes me up 3 to 4 times because his blanket is not tucked in "perfectly" like when he first fell asleep. He loves school, and it is a wonderful environment for him.

I will end it will my little Ali-gator. The girl talks like a 2 year old. She says please and thank you. She loves "Quick as a Cricket", and the boys sit with her and read it. They begin each page, and she finishes it. They crack up when they get to "wild as a ..." Ali's "chimp" sounds like duck. They think it is soooooo funny. When people burp she calls them "piggy", she says "stinky" when she or the boys pass gas. Bath time is her favorite. She has a billion bath toys, and loves to count them. "One, two, three....YEAH!!!" then she claps for herself. She runs around the house, " I'm running, I'm running!" Too many little adorable things to describe. Anyways yall, see you in another couple of months!!!!!