Tanaka Farms

This year we took the kids to Tanaka farms. Our first visit was last fall & we had such a good time we decided to make it a tradition. This year was extra special - our Japanese exchange student - Kasumi - was able to join us :) She just moved in on Thursday and she is such a sweet heart. She was very excited to participate in this American tradition.

Not only to we get to pick pumpkins off the vine - but we can also pick fresh veggies. This is my favorite part. Not often do my kids get to go to farm & see what vegetables look like before they are at the grocery store! The kids also had a great time running throughout the corn maze and trying to find the perfect pumpkin.

Last night we cooked pork tenderloin with all of our fresh onions, carrots & green beans - it was delicious :)

not a great quality picture - but it was a good action shot - I love Blake's face in this one!

dinner with fresh veggies from the farm

Halloween Movie Night

This past Saturday we had our 2nd Annual Halloween Movie Night - featuring "Sleepy Hollow". Such a fun night! Jake & I spent the day decorating the backyard with spiderwebs, spiders & candles. Once again - I failed to take very many pictures while the group was actually watching the movie - so there is one dark picture here - sorry :).

Krystal made these fun spooky cupcakes.

I figured you couldn't beat candy for the centerpiece - I'm scared to see what my kids teeth look like at their next dentist appointment!

Memories

Funny how something as simple as listening to a song on the radio can bring back a flood of memories.

Jake & I were listening to a band called Pedro the Lion last week – and a rush of memories from Maryland came back to us. Our first white Christmas with Jason & Annie, spending every weekend at their house playing “domino”, bundling the kids up for the cold snowy days, experiencing a whole different life than Jake & I had ever experienced. Jake & Jason spending time together playing their guitars & writing songs - while Annie & I walked through a ridiculous amount of model homes. Experiencing so many firsts with the kids - most of Blake's firsts happenned in Maryland -his first steps, his first words & of course his first set of stitches :) It’s so weird to think of our time in Maryland – it seems like a life time ago – so many great memories!

We really enjoyed spending time at the Inner Harbor in Baltimore

view from our dining room window

looking at all these leaves makes me want Fall to be here now!

This morning Kenzie put in her Carrie Underwood CD on the way to school this morning – just hearing the first song brought back so many memories from living in Florida. It reminded me of driving around the curvy roads which surrounded the fields filled with orange trees. Reminded me of driving Blake to his T-Ball games at a field right by our house, driving the kids to school & then heading over to spend time at the daycare our family helped run at our church. Reminded me of friends & family that we haven’t seen for 2 years and of the house that we left behind. Some sad memories - but many happy as well.

our house - before the landscaping :)

Mackenzie's birthday at our place

Blake's first baseball team

Are there any specific songs or albums that remind you of a different time in your life?

LA Galaxy Game

This past Saturday night we went to the LA Galaxy game. It was our first professional soccer game & we had such a great time! For those of you that don't know, Jake has turned into a bit of a soccer snob - and pretty much only watches English soccer, BUT after attending this game - I think the Galaxy won him over. The stadium is only 15 minutes away from our house - every seat is a good seat - we had general admission tickets and were only 3 rows from the field! The kids had a blast!

This was a special evening for the kids - they were able to go onto the field before the game and give all of the players high fives! Both Mackenzie & Blake were absolutely giddy - they were able to touch David Beckham (yes, mom was a bit jealous :) )! They were both totally into the game & can't wait to go to another game!

I had to include one token shot of Beckham - too bad my camera doesn't have a good zoom :(

Mackenzie took the above shot while they were on the field waiting for the players.

Soccer!

Saturday was the first game of the season for the "Black Knights" and the "Silver Bullets". Both of the kids had a great time at their games. Since both had games in the morning - Jake & I had to split up between the games. I stayed for Mackenzie's game and really enjoyed watching soccer again. I admit - I am one of those moms - the type that loses their voice from cheering - the type that caught herself running up the field w/ her daughter - yes that is me. So my goal this season is to tone it down a little & just sit back & enjoy the game!

Mackenzie is on the "Silver Bullets" - yes the parents enjoyed that name - but the girls picked it out. Her team did well - but did end up losing 2-1 in the end. I was very impressed with Mackenzie - this is really her first year of soccer - since the last time she played she was much younger. She did very well & was aggressive! Mackenzie played majority of the game - and did so without complaints :) There were some pretty big players on the other team - a few times Mackenzie was a little timid - but majority of the time she charged the ball. I'm really looking forward to seeing how her team pulls together throughout the season.

Blake's team is the "Black Knights". Blake is really having a blast with soccer. He is very confident and is VERY into it! I only caught a few minutes of his game - but Jake called and gave me numerous updates. Blake has some really good players on his team & they actually won 9-1 - which is a very high score for soccer! I am very bummed that I missed this - but Blake scored! He was playing the sweeper position (behind defense) and there was a penalty kick - just inside the goal box - Blake took the shot & it went over the heads of the boys in the wall & over the keeper's head as well! Blake also was able to try out being keeper - he didn't get much action - but I was encouraged to see him totally focused on the game - even when he wasn't involved in the play. During baseball - we would often see him having an imaginary game of baseball with himself when he was in the outfield. Not in soccer - he was totally aware & into the game.

Well unfortunately - once again - my kids were not into their mom taking pictures of them - so they both look grumpy in the shots below. Oh well - at least you'll get to see their uniforms!

Blake in his keepers jersey - so thrilled that his mother is making him pose for a picture after the game!

First Day of School

Today was the kid’s first day of school – I still can’t believe that summer has already come to an end. Blake is now in 4th grade and Mackenzie is in 6th grade – which means that she is in MIDDLE SCHOOL! Even as I write this tears are in my eyes – I can’t believe that my babies are this old! We’ve been watching home videos the past few days – which probably is not a good idea – but there were so many videos of the kids when they were babies – everything is seriously a blur – I can’t believe that I have a daughter in middle school – who is wearing a bra & begging me to let her shave her legs! UUGGH!! How did this sneak up on us?

Well despite my ramblings – both of the kids were very excited to start their first day and spend time with their friends again. Please lift them up in prayer – for their protection, health, spiritual well being and for wise decisions. I am excited to see what the year brings!

We had a lot of silly pictures this morning - it's now getting tough to actually catch a good one between the 2 of them!

We hope this will be the last week or so of the kids wearing uniforms - we are planning to get them "opted out" so they can wear their normal clothes to school.

What We've Been Doing the Past Few Weeks

As you can tell from the lack of blogging - we have been busy the past couple weeks - but unfortunately neglected to take pictures of several of the events :)

• Not pictured - but still very important :) - Our good friends - Mark & Joanne welcomed their daughter Olivia Grace into the world. 5 Weeks early - but healthy & pretty much perfect! Congratulations Mark & Joanne!

• pictured below: the kids decided to make Jake & I lunch - it was so sweet! I admit, there were times during the 1 1/2 hours that they were in the kitchen (with a sheet shielding us from looking) that I was a little concerned about what they were planning in there. But when they brought this tray into our room I was very impressed. Unfortunately the picture does not do it justice. They made grilled cheese - cut into heart shaped pieces. chicken quesadillas - cut into flower & sunglasses shapes and chicken salad sandwiches cut into leaf shapes. They did a great job - so I had to include this in my post :)

• Cosmo decided that he is a dog! For those of you that know Cosmo - he is not a dog - more like a combination of a pig & a cat - but when Indy is around some of the dormant dog genes resurface and it's always entertaining to watch!
  

• We decorated for Fall. Yes I know - I have a lot of pictures - but Fall is the start of cooler weather which leads to our favorite time of year - C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S! So it's a BIG deal around our house. I will admit that it was a little frustrating sweating in the hot weather while putting out our pine cones and pumpkins - but we love coming home to the fall decorations & are hoping that the weather gets the hint & gets cooler :)
  

• We went to an Angels game a couple of weeks ago. It turned out to be a great game! The Angels were down 6-1 or something like that - but then hit several home runs and came back to win it. I normally don't pay much attention while at the games - I enjoy the atmosphere - but I'm not glued to my seat watching the game - this game however was very exciting & brought us all to our feet to cheer.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  I included this shot so you could see how long Blake's hair was - as you can see from the school pictures in our "first day of school" post - his hair is much shorter now. I still think the long hair suits him - but it was nice to have a cleaner look for school.
  
  

• This past Sunday we celebrated Andy's birthday at our place. It was nice to hang out with Andy, Allison & Rob for the evening. We watched old videos and laughed at Jake & Jason's mustaches they grew to surprise Andy - several songs that Andy & Jacob thought were worthy to record :) - as well as some of our fashion choices!
  
  

We had to include the token flexing shot

when Andy's around - we usually have a few of these shots