Barnum Boys Oh Yeah, and Karen

Fall Fun!

2010-11-14T11:06:00.001-08:00

Drew and Lina...she loves her some Bubba. :) I called him Drew and she told me that's not Drew that's Bubba!

The Lousi kids after the game. (Vanessa, Liki, Vai, Teli and Lina)

The Lousi family...just another reminder that I need a new camera! Ugh. I took three and this was the best. Somebody kept moving. lol

Here we are his Dalton Common family supporting Liki and the Spartans. We have been trying to go to one of his home games the whole season and this was the first one. Why do I look like one of the kids? (I think I might try to shrink that sweatshirt it was not flattering at all now that I see the pictures!!) These kids need to stop growing!! Notice Drew is on his tippy toes trying to look taller.

Liki and the boys. (again do not know why it was so blurry?! Maybe the flash was off?!)

Way too much action for my camera, :(

Here's Liki looking up at us saying hello! #83

Vanessa, Vai and Teli

Jordan M., Drew and Jordan enjoying the game. We all had so much fun. I love college football games. This was the first for my boys and to be able to know one of the players was even better. After the game when all of the players come out and say hi to their fans one of the players threw one of his gloves to Drew. Apparently they get a new pair for every game. Then later Liki gave his to Jordan. They were so happy, but Jordan of course has to play the cool kid now and I even had to force him to take a picture with Liki!! He's just too cool now. :)

That's Drew to the far right. They moved him this week for their final play off game to Safety. They lost and came in second to last place for the season but Drew made the All Stars so he will have one final game. Good job Bub!

Kalei's 2nd birthday party.

Aren't these two to die for! I love that they are so close. I wish I had that when I was a kid.

Kalei holding baby Jaden. She loves the baby and even if he cries she still doesn't want anyone to take him away! Jamal and Angie went to the Raider game so Jaden came with GRANDMA SHELLY!! I love saying that! hahaha This was the first time we got to see Jaden since he was born, so I kinda hogged him that day.

Jordan, the old Asian man again, Kiana, the witch, Drew, the Sumo wrestler, and Kalei was a princess. Halloween was slow this year. I hate having it on a Sunday. It should be like Thanksgiving and just be the last Saturday of the month. I love it though. Tim and Dave took the little kids and seemed to be home pretty quick. They give up so easy. Jordan went with his friends this year in their neighborhood so this was pretty much all I saw of him that night.

Getting ready.....Kiana blends right in with my decorations!

We made a little cemetery under the stairs this year too.

Summer all wrapped up....

2010-11-12T10:15:00.000-08:00

I put this by mistake and can't figure out how to delete it. We took this at my grandparents 70th wedding anniversary.

Cousins hanging out at the cabin.

Jordan and Maddox sharing a moment at breakfast. :)

Cricket being her cute self as usual.

Jordan and Buster hanging out at the lake.

Maddox trying to wake Jordan up.

This was a trip to Great America we took. Jordan and his friends Spencer and Torin (with the whip cream smiles) and Drew's friend Jamison. I hung with the two little boys and Jordan and his friends split. This is the only picture I got of them right before we went home. :)

The little Drop Zone.....

This summer we took a weekend trip with my family to the cabin too. It was so fun. Lisa and Dave and the girls were not able to come because Kiana had a softball tournament that weekend, but maybe next year. I know the girls will love the lake.

My nephew Jamal with his girlfriend Angie.

Jordan at the diving board.

And Drew at the diving board.

Drew, Shelly and I. We have never rented these bikes before but my mom paid for Jamal, angie and Jordan to go. They got bored half way through so we hoped on. Now we can say that we tried them, but they are not as fun as they look.

Jamal and Angie

Shelly and Angie getting ready to go out on the rafts. Shelly was hysterical trying to get on this thing! I think it took her like 20 minutes.

Drew....are you serious mom?!

In no paticular order....

2010-08-02T19:08:00.001-07:00

Jordan's baseball team in Omaha! They had sooo much fun. Jordan and Tim I mean. I am so thankful they were able to go. Jordan hit two home runs while he was there. Way to go Jordan! :)

This is the shot of the outdoor movie at the Championship village in Omaha! Doesn't seem like it was a great movie huh?! Well I gave Tim the camera and BEGGED him to please take some pictures for me. I got very few, they were all at night (because he was coaching and watching the kids during the day) and nobody is in the pictures!!! He's too funny. My friend did send me all her pictures though so I did get to see more than this.

This was at the college world series championship game! They said it was soooo hot, but what good timing. They saw the final game of the series and the last game ever to be played in that stadium. They are building a new one close by.

This is one of the boys looking for home run ball! They had some terrible rain the week before and this water is not usually there, but it was knee deep in some spots....and we know that because one of the Dad's and a Grandpa waded in the water to get a home run ball. :)

This is Drew's team being silly. They did well this year, came in second place.

Jordan and Grandma at his 6th grade graduation. :) He's a keeper.

All the kids from Dalton common.....sad thing is Drew will be all alone and Jordan had this whole gang of kids his age. :(

Maddox showing Jordan all the fishies (grass) in the water! He's so cute, and he loves his cousin Jordan.

Drew's team with all the hardware!! Drew was voted MVP of his team! Good job Bubba! We love watching him, he is such a funny kid. It was so hot and he actually was sick this day, throwing up in the morning so I haven't taken one of him alone with his trophies yet....bad mom.

The morning that we dropped Jordan off at the Amtrak station to leave for Omaha....Drew and I made a spontaneous stop at the Oakland Zoo. We had a good time, but for some reason the pictures never seem as good as the real deal.

Sun bear....there were two of them and this was the first day they let them out together to meet each other. I was loving watching them follow each other around and feel each other out and Drew on the other hand kept asking me "Are you done yet mom?" haha

Drew and his buddy Mateo at the Memorial Day All Star tournament.

This was one of Jordan's projects......the one that he told me a huge made up story about how he lost the report and we stayed up until 1:30am DOING!! I think he got an A- on the display part. UGH! I wanted to kill him. So, he paid for my pedicure as punishment for making me stay up all night helping him with his own money! My idea....I thought it was a good one anyway. :)

Here is Bub, sleeping at a 40th birthday party for our friend...in a restaurant...on two chairs put together....while the party went on. This boy may never grow out of this. I love it!

Spencer and Jordan after winning the Mother's Day tournament in Modesto. All smiles.

First place! Go Hurricanes!

I took this picture of my grandparents in January. They will celebrate their 70th wedding anniversary this year and they will turn 89 and 90 I believe. Aren't they cute?

Ok....so I still have some more random pictures to add but I have this pattern of posting about every 4 months or so. I will try to post the rest soon. Now that I have finally put up some baseball pictures, this weekend football began for Drew and today for Jordan. I love that they stay so busy!

More to come......

The Barnums and Montoyas hit the slopes...

2010-02-21T14:42:00.001-08:00

Jordan posing in the same jacket that so many have posed in before! haha

Getting ready to hit the slopes. The kids have been asking to go to the snow forever! We made a last minute decision to go this weekend and took the kids out of school on Friday. It was such a good day. Actually a little bit warm and no rain or snow. It started out just to go to Leland Meadows snow park, but when we could not find any snow boots for the kids for less than $30 each. We looked into Dodge Ridge prices. The kids lift tickets are pretty cheap and to rent gear at Heidi's ski shop on the way up the hill was very reasonable also. They get you on the adult tickets though...$60 for the day, so Tim was going to go and Deanna and I were going to watch and hunker down in the lodge. As we got to Heidi's we realized it wasn't a good idea to have Tim the only adult trying to teach all four kids. So Deanna rented skis and I was going to share with Alyssa who wears almost the same size shoes (hers are bigger) and the board would be fine. Then Deanna and I were going to get one ticket and trade jackets and split the day on the slopes. We chose skis for Drew since we thought it might be easier for him, but the older kids were set on snowboarding. They all did sooooo good! Drew took a really bad fall off the lift the first time, it was an intermediate chair and a little much for his first try, but he didn't give up and by the end of the day he was skiing straight down the hills with no poles and no falls even on his last few runs. Jordan Montoya actually caught on the fastest to the snowboarding and he too was going without falling on his last run of the day. Alyssa tried and almost got it, but was too fearful of the falling and the speed and gave up for the day. Jordan B. started out slow, getting really frustrated, and then just said screw it and went up the lift with Tim and came down all smiles as he was starting to get it also. He had a hard time keeping himself out of the ditches and little streams of the sides of the runs, but he did pretty good and really enjoyed it. Tim got right back into it after just a few falls. I think it has been about 10 years since I have gone and about 8 since Tim had. I used Alyssa's board and boots and went after lunch. Deanna and I weren't planning on going at all so I was in my jeans! So if anyone has ever gone with me to the snow they know I fall EVERY time getting off the lift and then am very conservative getting down the hill, going across the mountain instead of straight down. I did fall every time I got off the lift and I did have a wet bottom, but once I was on the hill I did alright and only fell like twice. Deanna was great on her skis like she never took a break. We had an awesome time and the kids already are trying to figure out when we could go again. Saturday we took them to Little Sweden to sled. That didn't last long as it was much colder, a little snow for about 5 minutes, but without snow boots their feet were frozen almost instantly. We headed back to clean the cabin and then headed home. So fun that the kids are at such great ages for this kind of stuff. Enjoy the pictures!

Jordan and Alyssa

Tim posing after a fall. :)

Jordan Montoya getting the hang of it.

That's Deanna and Drew learning on the bunny hill.

Alyssa making her way down the bunny slopes.

Bubba, he was a little disappointed at first that we made him ski, but once he was doing better than the older kids he was much happier. Now he wants his own skis for Christmas! hehe

Tim and the Jordan's' on the way up the hill for their first try.

Tim and Alyssa on her first go at it.

Alyssa and Deanna

Jordan M.

Drew taking a spill.

Drew making his way down, while he was still slow enough for me to take a picture.

Tim

Jordan...smiling because he is starting to get it!

The boys and I on the bunny hill. It was cool that I could walk up the bunny slopes with them while they were trying to learn without a lift ticket and got a few pictures before they took off on the big hills.

The boys~

Our family~

Jordan and his best friend Jordan

Jordan and I~

Deanna and I

The Montoya's...Norm had to coach for Chabot Baseball and couldn't make it this time.

Tim and his straight down the hill partner! They were a cute pair for the last half of the day.

There next to the orange sled is Drew. :)

Cute little snowman, wasn't ours but it was cute.

That little speck of orange on the hill is Jordan B.

And this orange speck to the right is Jordan B falling off the sled.

Leave it to Alyssa to sit on the sled and make it all the way to the bottom of the hill without falling off! Such a lady. We definitely have created some monsters! All the kids have talked about is when can we go again. Mission accomplished...the kids had fun and so did we.

New Years Resolution.....catch up on last years pictures! Sit down and get comfy...

2010-01-01T21:54:00.000-08:00

WARNING: I have got to be close to if not THE worst blogger ever! I wait months at a time before blogging and then even when I do I can't seem to remember what order to choose the pictures so that they are in the correct order! UGH! Oh well bare with me....... Sepa's daughters Nofelina and Vanessa on Christmas.

Nofelina and Drew....

Nofelina and Jordan M. She was liking me taking her picture so she went around the room and starting posing with people! She said she wanted to stay at my house and kicked her shoes off. She's so funny.

My birthday boys....Jordan 12, Bubba 8, on Jordan's b-day!

Jordan loves to get cash! We got him a gym membership to start working out with Dad. He couldn't wait to turn 12 so he could start going with Tim. They've gone a couple of times already. He's getting so big!!

Just one of Drew's many birthday celebrations.

OK, so Bubba likes to get cash too. =)

Always loving on the baby cousins.

What the heck is Jordan doing? Bubba's birthday on his REAL birthday.

Jordan giving Kalei her bottle. She's getting big!

Dave and Lisa on Christmas!

DJ Hero.....

I had invited Sepa's family to come over Christmas day, she was working but the boys came over, and then later Nofelina and Vanessa stopped by as well as the Montoya's. Just as all the family left, the neighbors came. It was such a nice day!

Who knows what they were thinking!?

Drew can barely lift this girl! I'm always telling him to not pick her up. For her own safety!

Check Tim out in the background.... =)

Christmas morning!

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa B.!

The family on Christmas Eve!

I think he's happy to go shopping!

This is my HOT HUBBY! Love the model pose.

Jordan and Jamal hanging out.

Kalei loves scarfs so much that she puts blankets around her neck to pretend. Auntie Shelly bought her this cute scarf that came with a hat and mittens that she wanted nothing to with. =)Too funny. She walks around flicking it around her neck.

Mom on her birthday.

And Kiana on her birthday....she's 8 too.

Jordan and Drew had a dentist appointment.....unfortunately they had cavities! Fortunately they provided us with some great laughs while they were numb! heehee

Tim couldn't resist taking pictures.

Huh?! J/K he's smiling.

My girlfriends and our families got together in early December. So good to see them all, but whoa! Babies all over the place! Weird that mine are so much older. Sarah and Jason were not able to make it...we missed them. :(

My BFF since kindergarten! I wasn't trying to post this picture twice but I couldn't figure out how to take the extra one out! Stupid I know...

From left to right Christine holding one of her twins Jordan, Madison (Tammy's daughter), TJ (Teri's son),Drew, Jordan and LJ(Christine's other twin) and not pictured here Brayden(Rocky's son sleeping).

Madison was so rough playing with Drew. She was like a monkey just hanging on him and pulling his shorts down. Wrong day to not wear a belt...who knew!

LJ and Brayden

TJ just chillaxin!

Madison and Jordan

Drew's party with his friends....pee wee golf and ice creamery.

They are the same age really! Cracks me up the changes they go through the years in their height difference. Drew will get close to catching up and then she sprouts!

Drew with his best friend Luc. Now they look the same age right? He's not a midget just compared to Kiana he looks like one.

Kalei turned 1!

Kalei showing some love for Maddox at one of Jordan's football games.

They were such good sports!

Drew and his teacher Ms. Hill. She came to watch like 3 or 4 of his games. So sweet. He loves her.

Graydon and his best cousin Jordan trick or treating.

Gray showing Auntie his cute little butt!

Kalei trying to steal Maddox's binky.

Alyssa,Maddox,Joe,Jordan M,Jonah,Jordan,Drew,Graydon,Sergio,Kalei,Kiana and Chris.Whew!

FLAV-A-FLAV!!You know what time it is! WWOOWW!

Tim, Dad, Jordan and Grandpa B. watching Drew's football game. I love this picture!

And the ones who started the birthday craze! The birthday boy and men. Oh and Sarah's wonderful RED cake! lol Sarah is getting so good at making cakes..imagine in a couple of years what she might be busting out of her kitchen.

The great-grandkids with Grandpa F. on his birthday! He even wore the princess crown that Kiana wanted him to wear. (Grandpa, Kiana, Jocelynn-Kiana's cousin,Drew and Jordan).

So now that you may not want to look at another picture of me or my family for a while.....it's your lucky day! I probably won't post anything for several months now. Maybe by then you'll be ready to see us again! Thanks for stopping by. Come again. =)

Football season has begun!

2009-08-15T20:30:00.001-07:00

Drew and I went to a 49er game with his new football team. He is on the Panthers this year, his first year of tackle football. Tim wasn't able to go with him due to work, so I got to be the lucky parent to go. :) Unfortunately Jordan wasn't able to go either due to the limited amount of tickets they had. The kids enjoyed themselves although they were way more into the vendors walking around with snacks than the game! :)

This was a pre-season game against the Denver Broncos. ( not like you can't see them with the wonderful zoom lens! haha)

Drew watching the game.

Now this usher with the number 8 has a story. I went with another mom and her two boys,Drew and two additional teammates in my car/care. Right after we got them to their seats I wanted a picture of them and since the seats in front of us were empty I hopped over the chairs to take the picture of the kids. A few moments later this OLD lady all bundled up comes up and acts like she has a secret for me. Little did I know on the back of that jacket it said USHER! She scolded me for jumping over the seats and told me that she didn't want all these children with me to do as I do! We were cracking up laughing when she walked away! Then as we watched her throughout the evening we realized how much she looked like Maxine, from the Hallmark cards! We couldn't get over it so I had to take a couple of sneaky photos of her. What a crack up. And for anybody over 50 who says there is no jobs for somebody their age, she is proving you wrong, she had to be in her 80's!! You go Grammie! :)

Another sneak shot of usher #8.

Notice the bottom left hand corner of the field. How did these two people score recliners on a stage on the field? Must have won some sort of contest?

Drew and a couple of his teammates.

This was prior to the game warm ups. We had a great night, and we didn't get home until 12:35 am. All the kids passed out in the van on the way home and then they had to be at the field today at 10:00 am for a double-days practice!

Annual Twain Harte Trip

2009-07-27T19:03:00.001-07:00

Bubba on the way to the cabin :)

A quick trip to the park. It was sooo hot the kids couldn't go on the swings, slide, even on this merry go round the kids burned their hands. Short but sweet.

Cricket is so cute.

Hang in there Buster! (That's my attempt at being funny.)

Sweet Graydon posin' all cute.

Just monkeying around.

Grandma and Grandpa with the grand kids sweatin' like crazy, callin' it a day.

Even Auntie Karen couldn't stand the heat! :) I'm getting OLD!!

Drew on the slide.

The TWO GODZILLAS! They were watching a cartoon Joe had brought and there was the REAL godzilla and a computer generated one?! Anyways, they were pretending to be the TWO GODZILLAS at the cabin and were hilarious. Gray was licking Busters face and roaring at him and the funniest part was Buster kept going back for more!! They were so cute.

SHARK!! Oh no, that's just Drew, (or some other random kid).

Graydon was so brave in the water this year.

Maddox was so cute posing for this picture that when I was done he was still posing...so I took another picture of him what else!?

Marylynn's turn at catching the kids off the dock.

Gray doing it all by himself!

Grandpa gave many rides on the lake to all the kids. He was like a ride. He should've starting charging.

Drew on the big slide.

Buster going for his ride out on the lake.

Look how cute they are!! Sarah swam all the way to the dock and even hung out with Joe for a little. No more beach bums this year. :) Breaking the traditions this year.

Joe and the boys looking for rocks!

Friday night we broke another tradition, and instead of pee-wee golf we went to the Pinecrest Amphitheater and saw G-Force. It was fun the kids enjoyed the movie, I enjoyed the stars and the smell of all the campfires, and Buster REALLY enjoyed the popcorn. Marylynn feed that boy popcorn more often! I had a great time and it was a good little get-away for me and Drew. We missed Jordan and Tim though. Maybe next year.

Enough said.......

2009-07-09T06:26:00.000-07:00

MORE BASEBALL...

2009-07-05T20:06:00.000-07:00

Drew after two games Sunday, chillaxin'. They went to the championship game and came in second. Jordan after his two games today. PASSED OUT!! (We did get home at 12:00am and he had to get up at 7:00am)

Drew's All Star Team

Drew and his buddy Mateo. They were the only seven year olds to make the team. Good job boys!

Jordan's team picture, we took a few weeks ago.

Jordan at second base this morning. With both boys playing Tim and I had to split up. I went to Jordan's first game and Drew's second game and Tim went to Drew's first game and Jordan's second. It's crazy but still so much fun.

Jordan....we are so far away at their games that I can barley see him.

After one long weekend of baseball, hanging out with friends, fireworks, a sleepover and lots more baseball I am glad to be home and relaxing this Sunday evening.

The 4th of July!

2009-07-05T19:38:00.001-07:00

The boys hanging out.

Drew sportin' a glow in the dark earring.

More of the boys.....

The spectators trying to stay warm.

Brian helping Drew to light his first firework. Afterwards he lectured him on how he could only do this with the help of an adult.

Jordan's Michael Jackson impression. He was dancing all over the place. That is one thing he definitely takes after Tim, his love of music. I don't know who sings anything and can never come up with any title of a song if asked, them on the other hand can tell you all about it.

Daddy and Drew. Daddy looking a little red after a day two at the baseball field.

Alyssa and Grandma Patsy.

Joanne, Andrea, Jordan, and Deanna

Me and the boys, silly as usual.

Alyssa, Brian and Brianne.

Why do fireworks always turn out so crappy in pictures.

THE GRAND FINALE!!!

Andy and Jane's Wedding

2009-07-05T19:19:00.000-07:00

So last weekend was Andy's wedding in Dublin. We were very happy to make it, since we missed both Jamey and Lindsey's and we had such a nice time. Thanks for letting us in on your special day. Tim and I....

Mom and Dad, they're always so cute. :)

Sarah and Joe enjoying their time alone!!

Grandpa Barnum looking mighty dapper in his new tuxedo! He's even cuter than Don and Mary! Sorry guys, he's the winner. 86 years old and was looking for the single ladies. Unfortunately his ride home (Sarah and Joe) had to pick up their kids before the bouquet toss and he missed the one single lady he may have been able to hook up with. Although he wanted somebody 75-85 years old and she may have only been in her late 60's. They played "Single Ladies" by Beyonce, how appropriate.

The Barnum/Junsay Table.....

Jane and Andy :)

The mother and Groom dance....

Tim and I trying to get the sunset in the background, not so good at taking pictures of ourselves and the scenery at the same time!

Post Challenge!!

2009-07-05T19:16:00.000-07:00

I just want to say that it is so fun to check all the blogs daily and see new stuff. I love it. I also want to say that although I would love to join in.....I will not, I am not up to the challenge. I have enough challenges just trying to get normal stuff done I know I will fail miserably. But, I love that you all are doing it. So I will post a few today and then probably not for another month or so like usual. Enjoy!

Tim's B-day!

2009-06-01T20:29:00.000-07:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! WE LOVE YOU! Trying to get a serious picture of these guys is crazy! Tim of course didn't really want to do much so we had an easy dinner at home and of course ICE CREAM!

This is just nasty! Drew had a chocalate syrup tongue! Looks like something not good though.

Gotta love my boys, all three of them. Love you babe, your the best husband, friend and Dad!

Mother's Day

2009-06-01T20:08:00.000-07:00

Me and my two handsome boys on Mother's Day! We had an interesting day. I wanted to go to the Flea Market, which we did, and then while we were there Drew bought a magnetic earring. He has been wanting to pierce his ear but today we actually went and did it. Drew was sure he wanted it, but Jordan wasn't. Drew went first and after about another ten minutes of deliberation Jordan decided he wanted it too. Here they are with their new bling! :)

UGH?! Should I change my mind?
This is Jordan right before.....

Drew right after......

OUCH! That hurt a bit.

I think he was a little nervous.

Me and my monkeys!

My Little "Ankie"

2009-06-01T20:03:00.000-07:00

I still laugh when I think about it. When Drew was three and Jordan was first playing baseball on the A's, Drew would ask him are you playing the "Ankies Jo-dan?" It was so cute! And now I have my own little "Ankie". :) Gotta love this boy! He is sooo sweet and thoughtful and would give up anything for his brother, or almost anyone for that matter. I know of two times at least he's given up his lunch for somebody else. Love you Bubby!

YOU'LL SHOOT YOUR EYE OUT KID!!

2009-06-01T19:43:00.000-07:00

He's got the target lined up. I think the first time he tried he maybe hit it like four out of forty times.

These are the safety glasses that they must wear! They fall off if they look down at all.

For Jordan's birthday this year we were trying to plan something out of our house. The boys are getting to big and rowdy for this small place! To date we have yet to have a celebration! Poor Jordan, poor planning on a birthday for sure! He is so good, he totally understands and is like whenever. He did get birthday money and gifts from us. He just spent his birthday money on Mother's Day. I got to choose what to do, and I chose to go to breakfast and then to the San Jose Flea Market. I know that's weird, but I wanted to do something different. So Jordan finally spent most of his birthday money. Here is his new toy! This is his new P-90 sub machine gun. I have no idea what that means but that's what they tell me, he was way happy to have it. It is a air soft gun. So similar to a BB gun but with plastic little balls that shoot out. I can't believe I even ok'd this buy. He's growing up. :( Anyways thanks to anyone who may have contributed to his gift. And don't mess with us now, WE'RE ARMED!! I actually wanted to use it on a crow outside my window the other day who squawked for like an hour at 6:30 am!

BREAKING NEWS!

2009-05-19T22:06:00.000-07:00

Jordan broke his thumb last Tuesday! The school called me at work and told me he hurt his thumb and he said it was pretty painful and the office lady said it was swollen. I called my mom and luckily she was able to take a quick break to pick him up at school and take him home. She gave him advil and ice and we carried on. I even asked him several times to try and get his glove on to see if he'd be able to play in the tournament this weekend. Once he actually did and then he tried to catch a ball and it REALLY HURT! Thursday night I noticed the swelling was pretty much the same and there was now some bruising too. Friday morning we went to Kaiser and found out he broke it! Poor kid he's out of baseball for at least three to four weeks and no more PE at school for the rest of the year. AND... he can't even play video games since it is his thumb. Bummer! He was pretty shocked that it was broken. He was playing dodge ball and as he caught the ball it bent his thumb back pretty bad obviously. While he was getting ready for a cast he told me that he wasn't going to tell anyone who threw the ball that broke it, he didn't want that kid to be able to say he broke his thumb! So funny. Luckily we didn't just have the hottest days of the year this weekend. OMG! Oh well. I think for having two very active boys we have been pretty lucky in the bone breaking department!

Getting his cast! At this point he was happy with the cast! He missed school all day.The pictures were from my phone so they are a little fuzzy, sorry.

Easter 2009!

2009-05-03T15:04:00.001-07:00

Kalei just chillin' in the house. Love how she wraps her toes around everything like a monkey!

Grandma just enjoying a sweet baby.

Great-Grandpa Fitzwater decided to buy the boys an electric scooter. So everyone tested it out. It is really fun and it goes pretty fast too! Shelly taking it for a spin. A slow spin, but a spin :)

Here is Kiana giving it her first try without a driver, that would be me. We first rode together she did the speed and I steered. Lisa is about to have a cow about right now!

Gabe's turn.

Jamal showing off!

Grandma and Kalei staying cool in the shade.

Drew taking his first ride.

Jordan likes it I think.

Jamal and Kalei, luckily she doesn't really have too much stranger anxiety yet! I think the hat would do her in. :)

Thank you Great- Grandpa Fitzwater!

And Drew says thanks too.

This is Drew's first look at the surprise.

Easter morning.....and yes he is running.

Luckily the laundry wasn't too bad! That's right, in the dirty hamper! If I were the Easter Bunny I would never put it there!

In the dishwasher?!

We had a great Easter! Thanks for everyone coming over.

More Hurricanes Baseball....

2009-05-03T14:49:00.001-07:00

This was our tourney in Martinez. Vince pitching and Big Devin on first. Torin laying down the tag.

And...........Jordan at short. What would I do if they put him somewhere else? I think my camera would go there automatically after all these years. :)

Our Little Yankee Boy!

2009-05-03T14:35:00.001-07:00

The kids hanging out for the day after Drew's game.

Kalei being good in her stroller watching Drew's game. It ended up raining and I had to hide in the dugout to keep her dry!

Here is Drew playing short stop. He mostly is at pitcher this year, but he goes to short too. He is 7 now and playing on a new team that is mostly six year olds. Last year on his team he was only six and played up early, but with all these kids being too young to be at this level they are struggling to win. They have a couple solid players and a couple way out there players. Drew is doing well though and is having lots of fun. :)

That's Drew crossing home plate.

We love you #25! You're awesome!

Jordan's baseball tournament....

2009-02-21T16:59:00.001-08:00

I just loved this picture with the sunset and the fake fans in the back. That's Jordan way out there at short stop. Here he is pitching. He hadn't pitched in forever, but he did alright.

Family comes to visit!

2009-02-21T16:14:00.000-08:00

Jordan on the way home from Sky High!

Drew sleeping on the way home from Sky High!

Tim, Lily and Jordan

Cool jump Jordan, right out of the picture!

John holding his neck after his first jump:)

Good job Bubba!

These were the designated babysitters! Or maybe they were the couch sitters?! Gotta love 'em.

Maddox just being cute.

Jaime and I. I think the only place we've ever gotten any pictures of us is at Ice Creamery!? That's just wrong. We do other things too. Jaime do you have the proof we were at Sky High?

My hubby, John and Jaime looking cute. :)

Trying to get Graydon to smile.

Wrestle Mania Part I.

Wrestle Mania Part II.

Trying to get these guys to stop for a picture wasn't easy.

Lily showing off her new Tinkerbell earrings.

They don't look awkward at all!

Graydon showing off his pictures Drew helped him print on the computer.

Just chillin', thinking of you Marylynn. That's why Joe's holding the burp rag. He missed you.:)

It was good to see everyone. Just sucks that we don't have more space to all fit in. Tight quarters make it hard on the kids. They had fun, minus only about two accidents though. Thanks everyone. We missed the Hess' and the Jacobs' though.

Meeting with the principal....

2009-02-08T17:13:00.000-08:00

So I met with the principal this week to discuss the ridiculous rule that the students were not allowed to wear hoods. I of course did my homework and first checked the parent handbook from the first day of school and then called the district office to find out whether it was a district rule that I was unaware of. I spoke to somebody there and there was no such rule, but since I had called in it was policy for them to send an e-mail to the principal alerting her of my concerns and then if I didn't get anywhere with her I was to call them back for an official complaint.
Mrs. Schmidt is her name, and when I arrived with my handbook in my purse and ready to let her have a piece of my mind....suddenly she had this phony smile on her face and she sat and shook her head to everything I said! How annoying is that. She said she had never made up such a rule and that they are allowed to wear hoods, even though when I called to make the appointment with her she said it" was not a new rule but anyways.. what time do you want to come?"So it was a not new rule yesterday and today it is not a rule!? She said there is no gang problem and that she had to ask some boys at lunch last week to remove their hoods because they were sitting on the bench with their hoods on and they looked like they were hiding. I asked her hiding from what? She didn't know what to say. She then went on to say it was too warm for the hoods. I told her if I'm not mistaking it was cold and foggy last week right? I told her it was unacceptable to not allow the hoods or it if it needed to be a certain color hood we should be notified in writing of any dress code changes according to the handbook! She again said she never said it was a rule but said she told the teachers to tell the students not to wear them. I think she was contradicting herself?
So I made it clear that she needs to make a new announcement that it IS OK to wear hoods when it is cold, and it needed to come from her or the teachers soon since it is winter. She then said no problem we will do that and sent me on my way! What a waste of energy on her part to try and do such a ridiculous thing without thinking that somebody would have a problem with it. What next, no umbrellas in the rain because it could be used to hurt somebody? To this day there has been no such announcement per the parents and students that I have seen since Wednesdays meeting, so I guess I give her until this Friday when I'm off to go visit again. Let's worry about more important things like we need more tutoring!

Venting!!

2009-02-03T20:20:00.001-08:00

I don't normally do this type of blogging.....but this is really bothering me. How is it that Jordan came home from school the other day and told me that they are no longer aloud to wear their hoods on their sweatshirts or beanies on their heads because it is gang type behavior! Are you kidding me?! Do we really have gang activity at the school? Do we really need to enforce this type of stuff on our K-6 students? I was furious all weekend thinking about it. Not only is it insane to not allow anything to keep their heads warm, this is winter even though we are in California, but we were never notified of any dress code changes! I thought a lot about it and then called the principal today to schedule a meeting. She asked what it was about and I said the "new rule about not allowing the children to wear hoods or beanies." She said in a snotting way" it is not new but anyways when do you want to come?" I really am going to have to be good tomorrow when I go at lunch to meet with her!That nasty woman does not scare me! Maybe when your 7 or even 11, but not me. I say bring it on! I even contacted the district office today to let them know of my meeting and to verify if it was a school rule or a district rule. It is apparently up to the school to enforce stricter rules if there is a problem in the school, but if you've ever seen the school you'd know it is not an issue. We have a very high population of Mormons at the school, along with a high population of Indians at the school, who most of which are stay at home moms and constantly volunteering. It is not a low income neighborhood or school where some of those things are more of a problem. Well enough. I will be in the principals office tomorrow, not because of bad behavior thank goodness, but because of an insane rule that I can not tolerate! Wow what is coming of this world that our children are not allowed to keep warm!!

Jordan's first West Coast Hurricanes Game

2009-01-26T18:30:00.001-08:00

The tournament was held at this place in Manteca called Big League Dreams. It was great. There are fake fans in the outfield and the fields are replicas of some of the major league fields. The infield is turf and the outfield is real grass. Look at the pictures closely for the fans. Oh yeah and they have real stadium seats for the real fans! Awesome. For the kids not playing they have a great playground, batting cages, and even a indoor soccer facility, a fairly decent snack bar(with not so decent prices) indoors with heat, and AC, a bar, and each of the fields can be seen from inside. Very good idea considering the heat in Manteca and for this weekend the cold in Manteca. My mom and sisters came to watch the game. Kiana and Drew played at the playground all day and the arcade. I know they were wasting every bit of change we gave them on those stupid claw things that nobody ever wins! (except for the little girl who crawled into one, did you see that?!)
All but Jordan went and had lunch at Chili's and we had a great day together. Thanks for coming and cheering on my little slugger. :) Jordan's coach has set up a blog for the team and he has done some really good posts. We've added it to our family list on the side, check it out when you have time. He actually re-enacted the whole first tournament. The Hurricanes played some really good games for their first time ever playing together. They won the first game 12-6 and then they played a team from Nevada, they lost the first game by a bock, which totally sucked because we were tied up at the time, and then they played them the next morning at 8am, it was freezing, and they were close again, 7-5 Nevada Outlaws, and we ran out of time and they called the game!! We later found out they are the best team in Nevada and have never lost a game. Man do we want to play them again in a couple of months.

Jordan was the lead off hitter for the first game and he got a base hit! WooHoo! Go #23!

Jordan, Jordan, he's our man! If he can't do it, no one can! I don't really cheer like this for him at the game so just want to say it now. He'd kill me. :)

Looking for his sign.....

Jordan and CK team captains at the beginning of the game for the toss.

Just warming up for game two....

Drew .......

2009-01-26T18:25:00.000-08:00

LOST HIS FIRST TOOTH! I know he's seven, but mine lose them slow, and grow them slow.

Family Pictures :)

2008-12-29T14:22:00.000-08:00

So at 9:00 am on a Sunday, we all met at a park close to Lisa's house met for surprise family pictures for my mom this Christmas. A friend of Lisa's is starting a business and took them for us. Here are a few shots of everyone. Pretty good for the most part considering it was freezing cold outside and luckily the rain stayed away for the morning. Tim, Karen, Lisa, Kalei, Dave, Shelly, Jamal, Kristen and Gabe, Jordan, Drew and Kiana! :)

Shelly and her boys all grown up!

The grand kids.

Jordan playing on the playground waiting for one of his cousins to arrive. We won't mention which one. :)

Kiana also waiting...

And Drew, still waiting....

Lisa and her family.

Us.

And finally me and my sisters!

So, as I was trying to find frames for all of these shots, I realized that what would be even better than this, would be to have shots of all the Barnum side of the family to add to my hall way photos. Does this sound at all like Mary Barnum?! Well I would love to have a picture, even if it's just a snap shot of your families and then I can blow them up to 5x7 and complete my project. Anytime is good. Thanks! Love you all.

Christmas Eve

2008-12-29T13:57:00.000-08:00

Drew feeding Kalei her bottle. She's the center of attention these days at our gatherings. Lisa, Mom and Shelly, obviously not posing for the picture, just hanging out.

Kalei just looking at the world form her swing, or maybe at herself since there is a mirror on the bottom of her swing mobile. :) Isn't she cute? Oh and I wonder who bought her the cute t-shirt?(All my mommy wants for Christmas is a silent night)

Gabe and Kristen

Here Drew is laughing at the box of Boogers he got from his Grandma and Grandpa Barnum :)

Mom opening her family pictures from all of us.

And, Don and Mary opening their family picture.

My family generally has tried to take turns opening gifts so that everyone see what the others get and it makes it last longer too. But my Grandpa who just turned 86 never seems to get it and as soon as a gift is passed out to him by one of the kids he starts to open it. So he always seems to get to go first. Then he just keeps going, and going. This year was no different in that as soon as one gift was given to him, he opened it, but this year he missed a gift and ened up being the last person to finish!

Drew and Grandpa playing air hokey, I wonder who cheated? Oh I mean won?!

We had Christmas Eve at Dave and Lisa's house. It was fun, we all brought a little something, and ate and enjoyed each others company and ate some more of course. A little cookie here and little Sees candy there, hey it's the holidays right?! We had a great time, and were able to pull of the surprise of family pictures for my mom after all.

More Christmas Day....

2008-12-29T13:44:00.001-08:00

I guess you can't tell so much in this picture, but it was hailing big time for a short time on Christmas morning and the wind was whipping! Santa came to visit. :)

HO! HO! HO!

Drew holding up his new hoodie from Auntie Katie and Uncle Clayton.

Jordan wearing his new hoodie from Auntie Katie and Uncle Clayton. Thanks guys.

Christmas Day

2008-12-29T13:29:00.001-08:00

Santa came again...... He is so cool!

Santa brought the boys a new 19" HDTV for their room this year, so they can now take the PS3 to their bedroom. Yeah! For all of us actually, now they are not hogging my downstairs TV.

Don and Mary came down for Christmas and it was fun to have them there Christmas morning. The boys loved having them. We opened our gifts and then had breakfast and relaxed a little. Then we cleaned up and got ready for company. My mom and Grandpa came, my sister Lisa and her family came and so did Sarah & Joe and the boys. I didn't take too many pictures, but we had fun. Thank you all for coming.

Jordan is ELEVEN!!

2008-12-29T13:12:00.000-08:00

Here is Jordan's new birthday outfit from head to toe, courtesy of Grandma and Grandpa Barnum, Grandma Miller, and us. His shoes are getting up there in price!:( Love this guy, I can't believe how quickly evelen years have gone. He's even getting to that wierd stage where he doesn't know if he should hang with the adults or the kids?! These shoes are so cool, that strap that goes across the top is full of hidden pictures and names and symbols of Michael Jordan's life, his career, his family....it's entertaining just looking at them.
Full outfit shot.

Happy Birthday Jordan! :)

So for his real birthday, he went to baseball practice, we had pizza and of course made a trip to Cold Stone for ice cream. In January we'll have a kid party for him. It's just too close to Christmas to celebrate with the kids now.

It's begining to look a lot like Christmas......

2008-12-16T20:46:00.000-08:00

It's "Fra-gee-lie!" This is our most recent addition to our Christmas decorations! We all love it and were thinking maybe...year round? Rite Aid sells these lamps, and luckily I got it on sale, it's regular price is a hefty $49.99! I am always on the bargain hunt though. Here is a solo picture of the famous leg lamp! :)

Here's our tree... and my youngest son who couldn't stand to not be in the shot too.

I can't wait for Christmas this year. I am happy to know that we will be able to have it with both sides of the family, well part of it anyways. I am happy to have two cute new babies to play with this year, and happy to also have a week and a half off to hang out with my wonderful boys. Just so you all know, our door is open to everyone on Christmas day. We love you all. Merry Christmas! Oh and if your lucky I will even play my Elvis Christmas CD for a little back ground music.

Birthday for Drew and Graydon at Ice Creamery

2008-11-30T10:47:00.000-08:00

So, I forgot my camera in the car at the ice creamery, but thank you Mom and Dad for treated us all to dinner. I love that ice cream luckily you don't live closer or we might eat there more often! Here are the "Super Dorks" and Maddox. Let me explain somebody showed Jordan how to make these as he calls them "gangster S's", and then he taught Drew. Now they make them all over everything because they think it's so cool. So first Drew had Jordan make one on his back, then Drew did one on Jonah's back, then they asked Graydon if he wanted one too, and of course he did. Drew made one on his back too. Then they came up with this idea that it stood for Super Dorks and they flew around the house like superman for a while following each other and giggling. Such cheap entertainment.

SUPER DORKS!!

Thank you Grandma and Grandpa for taking my boys for the day. They had fun being with everyone and hanging out.

I've Gone To The Darkside....

2008-11-30T10:42:00.000-08:00

I always like to change up my color, since it's fall/winter I chose to do a darker brown. Just fun to choose whatever color we want.

Drew's SEVEN!

2008-11-30T10:26:00.001-08:00

We celebrated Drew's birthday with an army themed party. He is so into the whole army guys, and playing army. We had a plan, well Tim had a plan, since I just had my surgery I was taken a back seat at this party as much as possible. He took the boys in the dark across the street to the high school football field to play some game called capture the flag. Apparently it didn't go as planned and it turned into a free-for-all tackle game in the wet grass. Then my boys got a little too serious and Tim had to call it quits. Then the kids came in for pizza,cake and presents. Three kids stayed the night and they had a great time. Wow, I can't believe that my baby is seven already!

Jordan's Final Football Game

2008-11-30T10:09:00.000-08:00

Jordan had his last game and they won the championship. These kids some of them have been on the team for three years have won every year for the past three years so they were very happy to carry on the title. Jordan had a great year. He was definitely the little guy maybe only two kids smaller than him, but he held his ground most of the time. There were a few time I saw him get flattened as if he were invisible, but he had fun and how lucky he's been in his sports to have always at least gone to the championship and taken it or came in second for all years baseball and football. It hopefully makes it more fun for him. How 'bout them niners!

This is Jordan on the very bottom of the picture, #20.

So.... now baseball has begun. Jordan is going to play travel ball this year. He is going to play for a guy who coached him on an All-Star team when he was seven, Ron Nelson. He has several of the kids from that team 4 years ago actually. They are the Hurricanes. Ron actually started a blog for them so if it is anything interesting I'll post the link.

Kalei Aolani Kainoa 8lbs 5oz, 21 1/4"...

2008-11-16T15:24:00.001-08:00

Kalei was born on November 4th, one day after her due date.Lisa was induced on everything went much smoother than with Kiana.Kiana is very proud of the fact that according to her "she looks just like me!" She is so pretty and apparently she still has dark grey eyes, so maybe they'll stick, who knows. We are just happy to have another cute baby in the family! Drew, Jordan, Kiana and Kalei.

Drew acted like he couldn't wait to go see the baby, and then when we arrived at Lisa's Kiana passed the baby off to Tim and him and Kiana ran upstairs. I don't even know if he actually looked at her!

Kiana and her baby sister Kalei.

I don't know for sure but I think Kiana likes her sister.

Here are Kiana and Drew posing upstairs.

Kalei, isn't she cute!!

We caught her smiling in her sleep. She basically slept the time we were there with the exception of one feeding.

Kalei is out for the count.

Tim grabbed the baby as soon as we walked in and before I could even put my purse down.

Jordan actually really enjoys being a big cousin and loves all the little ones. He held her for a while before he gave her up for food.

Drew' Last Flag Football Game

2008-11-16T15:15:00.000-08:00

This was Drew's last football game. He started playing when he was 3 and now he is anxiously awaiting next football season for tackle football. He told us he was just practicing to get fast for tackle football. This is him with his best friend Luc.

Drew's Work of Art!

2008-11-05T20:37:00.000-08:00

Drew had his first book report that he had to do a poster for. This was the final result! Good job Drew. He doesn't get his artistic talent from me that's for sure!

Our Scary Halloween!

2008-11-05T20:04:00.001-08:00

I still don't know how to post pictures in the correct order!! So.... anyways this is Tim and Drew after trick or treating. Drew was so beat that the last 5-6 houses we went to he stayed at the curb with me. Him and Vai who is partially in the picture were both yawning! And it was only like 9:00pm maybe 9:30. Here is all the loot!

So this is part of our mission to start having "scary halloween" now that the kids are getting older. So this clown was hanging right when we opened the door, we had the spooky halloween music playing and the lightening( or some people call it a strobe light!)

Here are our heads and skeletons and oh watch out for the fire! Zoom this one and look at the guy in the middle, somebody said it looked like Tim!

Vai, Pocahontas and Alyssa, the devil

Here is Drew playing the part of a "Punk Zombie". Tim painted his face for him too.

The Dalton Common Gang for the second year in a row. (Minus the icee, who just tagged along randomly!)

Jordan and Drew with their pumpkins.

Watch out for that creepy creature and the zombie! The creature on the left is Caleb, who used to live by us and always returns for some fun trick or treating! The zombie on the right would be Drew, and the pumpkin on the bottom had too much to drink!

Look at me... I'm so cute!

Tim never gets to get out of carving! Always has to get in on the action. You should've seen the outline that Tim had picked for Drew. Whoooa! Needless to say the face that ended up on the pumpkin was not the firey skull that Drew wanted.

Jordan's First Pre-Teen Event

2008-11-05T19:53:00.000-08:00

So the City of Fremont had a Halloween part for 5th and 6th graders at the community center a few weeks ago. Jordan, Jordan, Alyssa and Vai all went together along with about 196 other students from all the schools! They said there would be DJ, a haunted room, a fear factor game, and snacks. The kids had a lot of friends from school that went and they ran into kids they knew from sports too. They ended up cutting the lights at the end and allowed the kids to dance. When all the parents got there to pick up Tim, Drew,Deanna and I went in to check it out. Kids were dancing and running around everywhere and there were glow sticks being thrown across the sky over all the kids dancing. So needless to say they had fun and are looking forward to more parties like it. (By the way Drew is the one in the front, Tim told him he should have dressed up as a fifth grader so he could've gone, but instead after the party I took this picture and he dressed up for it!He was so sad to get left out.) Alyssa, Vai, Jordan M., Jordan, and front row Drew

They grow up so fast! :(

Christine's Shower, yes this was a busy month...

2008-11-05T19:46:00.000-08:00

Christine is due to deliver TWINS in January( if she makes it) and she is lucky enough to have a boy and a girl. These cakes were awesome, almost too pretty to cut. If you can't read these adorable bib said if you think I'm cute you should see my twin!

Aren't these adorable! Teri, Tammy and Sarah planned the majority of the shower and it went great. Good job girls.

Jordan's game with guests...

2008-11-05T19:32:00.001-08:00

So this was the one game that Jordan had fans at, and he had lots that day. Grandma and Grandpa Barnum, Auntie Lisa, Kiana and Auntie Shelly, and Auntie Sarah, Uncle Joe, Jonah, Graydon, and baby Maddox. Look closely at Jonah here. Notice the stringy thing across his face. Yes that was gum that went from his glasses and wrapped around his mouth! So cute! Look again at the string on his right.

Here's baby Maddox sleeping away. I have the cutest nieces and nephews! And a lot of them, 13 now and counting!

Shelly and Lisa chilling in their umbrella chairs.

And here are the cheerleaders and Graydon. If you've ever been to a game where Auntie Sarah is watching you know what I mean. Actually Jordan loves when people cheer at half time " Way to go Jordan! Eat that snack! Drink that water!" And especially when you are so close the whole team is just staring at you and wondering who in the world cheers at halftime for the football player, not the cheerleaders who may actually be performing! He loves it. Thank you all for coming.

Lisa's Baby Shower

2008-11-05T19:06:00.000-08:00

Here are a few shots from Lisa's baby shower. She was looking cute and the shower was fun. Thanks for doing a great job Bernadette and Shelly! This is a bib that Kiana made and said this is what her sister will look like! Well we hope she is a littler cuter!(Infact I know she's cuter) Kalei was born 11-4-08. She was 8lbs 5oz, and 20 1/4 inches long. She's doing great and Lisa is good. They just went home today. I hate that they live so far. Well it's not that far but with traffic, homework, practices, school, and work I haven't even seen her yet! I must be the number one worst Auntie right now:( More pictures of her to come after I get out to see her.

These were the bibs that everyone made at the shower for the baby. It was a cute game and now she's got these personalized bibs to wear and ruin!

Here's Kiana making her sister a bib. She loved this game.

Maddox William Junsay, 8lbs 14oz and 20 1/4"

2008-09-21T20:24:00.001-07:00

Saturday September 20th 2008, ironically Sarah's due date, Maddox was born at 4:30pm. What a cute addition to the Junsay family. Look at these proud brothers! They're adorable.

Graydon kept saying after this picture "I hold the baby, I hold the baby Mommy" so cute. He's having a hard time saying his name though. Jonah and Graydon had come to see him Saturday night and today when we went to visit Joe and the boys came again. Jonah was so cute, while Jordan was holding him he looked at him and said "Maddox is getting bigger huh?".

Maddox William Junsay

Sarah you look great and amazing well rested although I know you were not.

Check out his cute little feet popping out of his blanket.

Here with his oldest cousin who is almost 11 years older, WOW!

Drew's First Flag Football Game!

2008-09-21T20:10:00.000-07:00

Here Drew is returning the flag he just snagged! Drew is on the left taking a great angle on the kid coming who's not in the picture yet.

Here is a surprise to you all Graydon would rather listen to a story than watch the game!

Drew's fans on the sideline having a little fun themselves.

Great Grandpa Barnum (who turns 86 this week).

Drew is so happy to be playing instead of just watching. He had an awesome game with three touchdowns and at least4-5 flags. He was so locked in that when he was out for his rotation he wouldn't even speak to Jonah! My favorite play was when he was running for one of his touchdowns and he ran right past us with his serious face on, and his cheeks were bouncing! Love this guy.

Don and Grandpa Barnum's Birthday Breakfast!

2008-09-21T19:52:00.000-07:00

Mary got this great shirt for Don, but for some reason he wouldn't wear it!? Drew sportin' his new mohawk for football season, he's so intimidating!
Drew after eating chocolate chips pancakes, huh?
So according to Grandpa he's "going to be 86 years old in a few days, and that's almost 100!"

What a great looking pair of brothers, reminds me of my boys in several years!
Graydon pretending to be shy, he loves doing that. And Matt who ignored me every time I tried to take a picture.

This weekend Don and Mary came into town for Don's 60th B-day and Grandpa Barnum's 86th B-day! The plan was to go to an A's game..... that was before we got football schedules and realized we weren't able to make it, and then Sarah went into labor so then nobody went to the A's game. Bur we did go to breakfast at IHOP for their birthday. Uncle Dave, Matt, Grandpa Barnum, Jonah,Graydon, Jordan, Drew,Mary,Don, Tim and I while Sarah and Joe left for the hospital.

Jordan's First Football Game

2008-09-15T22:25:00.000-07:00

49ers VS. Falcons......
I have no idea if Jordan is even in this picture?! So hard when they move so fast. Jordan #20 checking with the ref for something? Not sure of all the rules even after 2 years of watching him play already.

Just chattin' up.....look at those tiny little butts :)

Jordan is the bottom left side in this one, he is playing offense and defense this year. He is wide receiver and corner back. He had a great game on Sat. against the falcons, probably one of the top two or three for tackles.

I have to say that I might be a little more into football games then baseball. I definitely see the talent more in baseball because it is such a slow game, but football is so fast and action packed! I guess having boys suits me just fine. I'm the crazy Mom screaming on the sidelines for every little thing that Jordan does." Tim did you see that? Did you see that, that was Jordan." Love my boys.

My Hand Mystery Solved....

2008-09-15T22:00:00.000-07:00

Here are some lovely pictures of my birth mark! Ugly birth mark......
Normal hand....
And ugly hand again, can't figure out how to delete a duplicate picture!

So..... last Tuesday I went to Stanford to meet with an interventional radiologist, Dr. David Hovsepian. I took with me records from Kaiser, MRI, and a contrast angiogram. He knew immediately what was wrong with my hand. Yeah for Stanford knowing all the weirdest stuff out there! It is what they call a Congenital Vascular Malformation (CVM), which happens in barley 1% of all births. So yes it is sort of a birth defect, or they like to say birth mark. I knew I was a freak of nature! Anyways he is very familiar with them, they tend to be in the extremities, and usually become an issue in the late teens. I can't remember when I first noticed it I just know it has been at least 11-12 years and it is progressivley getting worse. I have a really ugly " bump" on the back of my hand which everyone usually notices, but I also have the underside of my wrist that is always extremely swollen and then on my forearm there is another spot where I have a lot of pain, and the number one reason I was concerned was that my middle finger does not extend in the flexed position. He feels like he can start to treat it slowly. It will be a surgical procedure know as sclaratherapy (don't know the spelling exactly), and it unfortunately means they have to do more than one procedure most likely. They go in with a needle and with an active contrast x-ray and will burn a vein with alcohol, and hopefully rid me of some of them. The risks are that the alcohol burns my skin, hits a nerve and causes nerve damage or hits a vein he doesn't want with some leakage. He feels that we can start in the underside of my wrist to hopefully stop the problem with my middle finger not being able to extend fully in a flex position. He says he likes to be cautious and do a little at a time, Kaiser should approve it since they didn't even know what it was. The scary part for me is being put to sleep! Oh well, this is probably the most BORING blog entry ever, but now you know, I know, we all know that I am a FREAK!

Firsts...First Day of 5th Grade, First Day of 2nd Grade and...first time Jordan went to Cal Bears Stadium!

2008-09-03T22:14:00.000-07:00

Jordan was nice enough to bring his brother a poster too! Jordan started the 5th Grade!! I can't even believe it. Drew is a big second grader as of today.

The boys sported their new shoes today, they look the same but they really are different.I don't think that Jordan is really into matching with Drew these days.
Jordan also got a really fun opportunity today to go to a Cal Bears football practice and be on the field with the players. After their practice Jordan and his teammates were able to get autographs!! Here is his new prized possession!! He had a blast, got to talk with the strength and conditioning coach, the baseball coach, and one smart coach told him that the most important thing is to get good grades!! Jordan told him that he could get used to this school and he'd like to go there! Let's go CAL! I love that he was able to do this and that maybe it may motivate him especially being a new school year. Lucky kid. Now he's dying to go to a game, and Tim and I are with him on that we had so much fun last year.
Yeah I'm cool.

Bubba looking all perfect and stiff! What a funny kid. He makes me laugh.

Just a little brotherly love before our first day of school. :)

Jeff and Christy's Wedding

2008-08-30T12:35:00.000-07:00

( I accidently posted the pictures in reverse order!!OOPS!)
Last weekend Tim and I went for the weekend to celebrate Jeff and Christy's wedding! They are so good together we wish them the best in life! Congratulations! Thanks to my sister Lisa for keeping the boys for us, we were able to drive up to Dixon on Friday night and meet up with Tad and Shawn Chance, Aaron O. and his wife Lindy, Doug and Jeff and have dinner and drinks. We haven't seen Doug in like 12 or more years so that was fun to catch up. On Saturday was the vows and reception (the secret was they were already married a few weeks ago). We had a great time. I hardly even saw Tim the whole time he was catching up with old buddies as you can see in the pictures lots of people we haven't seen in years, and a lot that I have no pictures of as well. I danced a little bit with Sandy, Mary Amyx, Tad, Doug, and even Christy's nephew Mateo, but never did I meet Tim on the dance floor!! As usual. Anyways it was a nice weekend getaway for Tim and I , and all for a good cause. Thanks Lisa and Dave for having the boys, they had fun as always.

Twain Harte, look out here we come....

2008-08-06T18:47:00.000-07:00

We had to torture the kids with a family picture, it's tradition!

Here I said hey guys lets have a group hug! They all chose somebody to hug instead.

I think that Uncle Tim was a winner in Buster's book! I love this one.
This was a sneak attack picture of Gredtel since she doesn't like taking pictures.

Clayton and baby Mayzie! She was so good.

The Cabin and the Lake....so fun!

2008-08-06T18:30:00.000-07:00

Look at these cute kids!
Drew took a few of these next shots, good job Bubba!

Buster conquered a few fears at the lake, one was the lake, and the other was he touched the blow up boat! Good job Buster, you are sooo cute.
Here Jordan is going to catch Graydon! What a nice cousin.

More Fun In The Sun!

2008-08-06T18:26:00.001-07:00

Cricket and Drew going for a spin on the jetski!
Can someone tell me where this kid is going swimming? I'm not sure I want to be there! Gotta love that Jonah wore his goggles or these lovely flashlight goggles the whole weekend, even at the cabin! He's so funny.

We've been doing a little swimming lately....

2008-07-13T19:56:00.001-07:00

Jordan is a flippin' machine off the diving board, he can just go and go and go!

This was Drew's first day going off the diving board. He had a near drowning experience at Jordan's baseball party, and now after just one week he can go in the 9 feet. Yeah Drew! (About the drowning part, he went in the 3 feet and then wondered into the deeper area and basically panicked and didn't even try to walk back to the 3 feet, so he was plucked by some adult near by that I asked to pull him closer to me. I wasn't in or even wearing my suit!) Now he is doing so well on his own and his lessons don't start until early August. Jordan will start his next Monday just a breather class.

Drew is practicing his Kung Fu Panda moves.
You know that one had to hurt!
This is Jordan's impression of Michael Jordan.

The pool is so much fun. I always think while we are there about the Barnum's swim club, South Gate. As of yesterday they even added the adult swim! I wasn't even part of the family, but did spend some time there with Tim, Teri and Sarah . What fun memories. You forget until you are there how nice it is to sit in the sun and listen to all the children play and the splashes, and laughter. Well worth the money spent even after only a week. Come swim with us if you are in town!

Before you see the swim club,here is our old club....

2008-07-06T19:50:00.000-07:00

Club Dalton Common!

Several weeks ago we had a pretty severe heat wave with temps around 100 degrees! Deanna and I felt so bad for the kids they were melting. We went to Rite Aid and bought this pool that as you can see is only knee deep for most of the kids. We thought forget about the homeowners association and used three hoses to fill it up. The kids obviously really couldn't swim in it so they ran from several feet away and jumped in, or slid in. They loved it, and we did get a warning the first time we set it up on our side. So the next few times we did it on Deanna's side. No tattle-tell (is that the correct spelling?) neighbors there, since she hasn't had a warning. So anyways now you see why we are excited to have the pool membership finally. Although all the kids in the Dalton Common hood were very excited about this pool, we may have retired it.

4th of July

2008-07-06T11:00:00.001-07:00

We had been so undecisive about what to do for the 4th. We didn't really want to go anywhere, so we ended up heading to the swim club. It was insane! I guess being "rookies" we didn't know what we were getting into. The pool was open and free to the whole neighborhood and they had their own parade where they decorate bikes,cars, dogs whatever they could and they vote on the best. Then the pool had besides tons of people, music, and some competitions. Anyways we were shocked by the crowd, and pulled up a small piece of grass and swam for a little. Then at night we headed to Norm's mom's house in Newark.(Fremont doesn't allow fireworks) We had made such last minute plans that we got our fireworks at 8:45pm. The good news is they were ready to wheel and deal to get rid of them. We had fun doing them and watching all the illegal ones around us! Happy 4th to you all.

Baseball....

2008-07-05T11:27:00.001-07:00

Baseball is finally over! We had a good season for both teams. Drew's team went 18-2, placed first in the league, and then placed second in the championship game. Jordan's team went 20-0 and placed first place in the league and then also took second place in the championship game! What a bummer the one game they loose was the championship game. Oh well. It was fun. Now we have some down time before football starts. Jordan will start football in Aug. and Drew is thinking he might want to start taking some mixed martial arts classes, so we are looking in to that. We also joined the swim club near our house, so more pictures of that to come it's only been two days, but we are loving it already.

Day Trip to Placerville

2008-06-06T10:04:00.000-07:00

We took a day trip to Placerville for my cousin Megan's baby shower. The baby came early was born just days before her shower. He was small but healthy, and I brought my camera to take pictures of everyone including the new Mommy and I forgot to take any until the very end. We were all getting ready to leave and I realized I hadn't taken one picture. So here are the cousins after running around and exploring in Aunt Pam and Uncle Carl's back yard(forrest). Then Uncle Carl casually says you may want to wipe the kids down just in case they touched poisen oak!!AHH! We are such rookies to having trees and nature so close to us. Kiana, Jordan, Travis and Drew

Madison came to play!

2008-06-06T09:58:00.000-07:00

Tammy brought Madison to come hang out for a few hours while she had a quite kid free dinner with her Mom and brother. She was so cute and Drew was actually really good at keeping her busy.

Fun Times

2008-06-06T09:51:00.000-07:00

Disneyland!

2008-06-06T09:30:00.001-07:00

Thank goodness the boys have decided they like roller coasters! I love them. Below is Tim and Drew on Mohulland Madness! Look closely.

Hey Grandpa! Here we go! Big Thunder Mountain Railroad was Tim's favorite ride can you tell?!

Grandpa is spinning their heads off on the tea cups. Jonah is in Jedi training, he was great!

Graydon is just chillin' at a safe distance from the Jedi training show.
This guy had some amazing makeup, but this was the picture I got of him.

Jordan is ready for a fast dark ride!
Auntie Shelly this one is for you! Drew's first time on Space Mountain! He did it.

Grandma and Grandpa's House

2008-06-06T09:13:00.001-07:00

Our trip was to celebrate Mary's 60th Birthday, and mothers day. We got there Friday night and the boys were so excited that Grandpa had his pool up! They did not care that it was freezing out they were going swimming. They tried to wait for Jonah to get there, but their little shivering bodies couldn't hold out. :) Then on Saturday we went to Disneyland. It was so much fun! (Well that is if you ask Jordan,Drew or myself) Tim was just happy to be with his mother!!
Here are some random photos from the trip.

We are still here....

2008-06-06T09:05:00.000-07:00

We went to a Warriors game with our friends the LaBarbera family. They got these great box seats with free drinks and hot dogs!! We had a fun night, I'm not sure if the kids liked the game or the box better. Thanks guys.

Happy Easter,Happy 35th & Happy 21st!

2008-03-30T10:11:00.000-07:00

The kids dyed their Easter eggs after Grandpa's birthday party.

Gabe and Kristen got the kids all these great little gifts for Easter, Drew got fake poop,which was a huge hit and Jordan got fake body parts, check out this realistic tongue!
Happy birthday Lisa and Gabe!

Dad's 63!

2008-03-30T10:03:00.001-07:00

Dad came for a birthday dinner and night of Rock Band!! He is 63 this year. WOW! And I'm still only 19?! Happy Birthday Dad.

Rock Climbing

2008-03-30T09:55:00.000-07:00

Jordan made it to the top and rang the victory bell!!

Last Friday the kids were out of school for spring break and I happened to have the day off too, so we went to a place called City Beach where they have indoor rock climbing. Jordan had tried it before but it was Drew's first time. He got so close to the top where you can ring the bell, but couldn't quite get all the way. There is definitely an advantage to being taller. My palms were clammy just watching them.

Alcatraz

2008-03-29T19:36:00.001-07:00

Jordan and I went on a field trip to Alcatraz with his class on March 7th. I've been before but it is always a fun trip to take. Jordan was sooo excited to go he had been really looking forward to it for weeks. Tim and I watch this program sometimes about prisons and he had just seen one with us about San Quentin right before we went, I think he was most surprised by the strip searches that included all aspects of your privacy being invaded!! Gross, who wants that job anyways. Well we had a great day the weather was amazingly clear and very comfortable with just a sweatshirt. Here are a few pictures. Check out Jordan's sweatshirt if you can read it. :)

I've Been TAGGED!!

2008-03-09T20:09:00.001-07:00

So I've been tagged! I've never been one to play these types of answer a million questions and send around to a million people but this will be a first.

20 years ago..... I was 12 years old and in the 7th grade at Barnard White Middle in Union City. I was really into my hair!! It was the cool thing to have big pumped up bangs then. Oh my gosh , god forbid we have a power outage and we were unable to use the blow dryer to get our bangs to stick straight off the top of our heads!! And I remember wearing these stretch pants that cost maybe $7 at this little store where you bought hair accesscories and makeup, and cool pants!! We also were into wearing two different color socks and layering them. Those were the days of lots of green and blue eye makeup also. I know in my school picture I had on a teal shirt, big hair and lots of teal eyeliner. :)

10 years ago.....Tim and I were living in our Castro Valley apartment and Jordan was just a couple of months old. He was so colic (sp?) and cried for hours at a time, starting at about 7pm until about 2-3am! We had to put him in his swing on high and bundle him up because he would go so fast his hands would get cold!! No joke. I was working for Dr. Vogel and Tim was at Ron Goode Toyota. Tammy was living with us too.

5 years ago.....Tim and I had just moved out of my Mom's condo and into our current one. Jordan was 5 years old and Drew was 1 and a half. Jordan loved to go out and ride his bike around the condos, and Drew was a cute happy little toddler. I really don't remember this year very well, I know that Jordan started kindergarten in the fall?! Oh well.

3 years ago.....Jordan was in the second grade, Drew was then 3 and again I don't remember much else except that was the year Jordan started to play baseball. He was 7 and it was his first year, he played on the A's he did really well and was named MVP. This is when we met some really nice friends that we still have today in the "sports circle". That's all folks!

1 year ago..... Drew was in kindergarten, Jordan was in the 3rd grade, Tim was still working at Costco until about June, and me I was still with Dr. Vogel. This is becoming a very boring blog. SORRY Jaime, I tried. Drew played his first year of baseball and was on the Red Sox. Jordan played on the Giants for baseball and the Colts for football. They are always fun times, I'm just at a loss for words I guess. Tim then started his new job at Walters and Wolf, I got my van, and I was still working for Dr. Vogel. :)

So far this year..... This year started off fun with the kids new Guitar Hero game and the neighbors Wii on new years eve. I fell down bowling and I swear my knee hasn't been the same since. I had a birthday, Tim was really sick for what seemed like forever, the kids are doing well in school and sports. We are planning on going to Disneyland for Mary's birthday in May, Jordan was there when he was 4 and I was prego with Drew, so he has never been. I am way excited because I know now that they both like rides and roller coasters unlike Tim, so I am looking forward to that trip. I also am hoping to take a trip just Tim and I to Las Vegas and maybe if we get super lucky on the timing catch a UFC fight live!! That would be sooo fun! I am planning on some painting for my room, and a little remodel for the boys. I am going to get them new bunkbeds soon, twin/full, and then new bedding. Tim has been taking care of a bunch of little chores around the house that we've been putting off so that feels good. We have also decide that we should start going out for Sunday breakfast a couple times a month. We went to IHOP last Sunday and we all enjoyed it and it got our day started so early. And I almost forgot Jeff is getting married in August! My sister-n-law Sarah is expecting her third child and my sister Lisa is expecting her second child just a couple of months apart. We are going to have so many nieces and nephews!! So fun. I have been given a promotion at work that will be good for us, and good for some change in my life. Tim's job is going well and they'd like him to start moving out to the field soon too. All good news. This year is looking good.

Yesterday.... I did laundry, cleaned house, went to Drew's baseball practice and did more laundry.

Today.... I did laundry, ran a couple of errands, went to watch a baseball scrimmage for Jordan M. and made dinner, folded a lot of laundry and have been on the computer.

Tomorrow..... I will go to work, and then meet Tim and the boys at the baseball field. Just another day.

Wiped Out!

2008-03-02T21:04:00.001-08:00

Drew started playing baseball this year with the 7 and 8 year olds in the Micro division. Today we started out with breakfast at IHOP and then ran some errands, then on to his 2-4pm practice. He is trying so hard to do well and today was very nice but windy outside. When we got home he took off his cleats, had two pieces of pizza and layed by the back door and crashed!! So typical of Drew to just sleep wherever and whenever he is tired!! He is so funny. Right next to all our shoes and right in front of the door. I told Tim he was like a cat laying in the sun! I miss Onyx! But Drew is way cuter. Anyways he is doing so good. It seems as if he'll be playing second base and is having no problems keeping up with these boys. So proud of him. We will be sending out game schedules later this week in an e-mail for all of those of you who are interested and have a few hours to spare on a Saturday.

My 32nd Birthday!!

2008-03-02T20:52:00.001-08:00

For my birthday my mom bought me a new mixer, and a cool new toaster, and Tim and the boys gave me the new matching coffee pot! Aren't they pretty. The sad part is that my birthday was January 31st and I am just now posting this. We haven't really even celebrated though, which is fine by me with everyone especially Tim being so sick we didn't even leave the house for so long! But thanks mom for the mixer and toaster I love the way they look, I wish I could leave it out just to see them. Funny what we get excited about as we get older. I also received Grease 1 and 2 and the original soundtrack from Shelly. Thanks Shelly. Jordan says that he wants to watch it with me since it is my favorite movie he wants to know what it is about. He's so funny.

Well with my other birthday funds I am working on redecorating our bedroom, Tim must have been sick when he agreed to having PINK!! Well black, white and pink (maybe more magenta). Anyways I am holding him to it and planning on painting in the next couple of months around baseball and work. More pictures to come. (Even though I know it will be a while) Thanks for checking on us on the blog and enough rambling!!

Jordan's 10th Birthday Party

2008-01-18T19:34:00.001-08:00

Jordan and Jordan M. were twins! They both (actually all three Drew too) got these matching shirts for Christmas and they are just getting into the whole Jordan kick. So they got these matching shirts and notice the belt buckles too! They have so much fun together silly, athletic, and PlayStation buddies and then there is all the pretend play they do. What a lucky thing to have somebody you get along so good with live right next door to you.

Anyways Jordan wanted to have just a few friends over for pizza, ice cream cake and of course some guitar hero madness!! They are starting to get to the age where it is hard to get them to take pictures and so unfortunately there are not a lot of pictures of his friends (or none) Jesse, Jason, and Casey. Although they were really there I have no proof. They all had a great time, and about 2:30am I had to come down stairs and tell them that it was to late to be running around playing dart tag!! Then all was good again, well.... until the first one to fall asleep of course, and not counting Drew, got their face tattooed! All night long Tim and I had been giving all the kids tattoos with these new pens that Drew got. They are meant to tattoo and wash off easy, so with a little suggestion from his mother, Jordan and his friends tattooed Jason's face. A night I am sure they will not soon forget. I love sleep overs!! Happy Birthday Jordan!!

Guitar Hero III

2007-12-30T17:41:00.001-08:00

Tim is actually very good and of course has been playing like crazy to perfect it. As of today he has beat the easy level, 40 of 42 songs!

Jordan has also been very good he and I are pretty equal as of now.
Poor Drew can't even get his hands around the guitar. He uses his thumb for every color and he's become very good 92% and completed his first song as of today.

Guitar Hero is fun for all ages!! All of us have been playing this game since Christmas, it is very addicting! Even me, Miss "I know nothing about the PlayStation so don't ask me for any help, ask your dad." Thanks again Santa for a good pick.

Christmas Day-Santa Came!

2007-12-30T17:27:00.001-08:00

Drew got his XX2 Jordan's

Grandpa came for lunch.

We love Santa!!

Thank you Santa.

Christmas Eve

2007-12-30T17:21:00.001-08:00

We spent Christmas Eve at Lisa's house this year and despite the van breaking down on the way to her house, we had a very nice evening together.