Father's Day is for

Father's Day is for Daddy to teach his girl how to take care of her wheels.

Kindergarten Graduation Take 2

Finally, we are done with Kindergarten!  These two are officially first graders, and boy, are they ready!

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We have been learning a huge lesson about fairness and how life is not fair.  Gracie earned a medal for citizenship and Lucas earned two medals, one for academic excellence and one for leadership. Gracie is having a hard time because Lucas is so confident about what he knows and Gracie is terrified to be wrong.  She hesitates and, as a result, people think she does not know as much as she actually does. Lucas is super speedy and can read with confidence.  He is really fast at math and can add and subtract in his head like nobody's business.  Gracie loves to draw, read, and write.  She especially loves to pretend she is a teacher and "grade" all of the books in her room.

This should be our last year in a classroom together! Hello, grade school!

Glasses for two

Other than her eyes, Gracie does not resemble me one bit. And to be honest, her eye color is very much her Daddy's so even those don't look like me. One thing we both have in common is that we are now both the proud owners of glasses.

Apparently, we both read a lot.

Halloween 2013

Ninja and Ariel at your service!

Ferris wheels aren't for sissies

They looked like this for the majority of the ride.

Step Out Walk for Diabetes 2013

What a day this was! The day was cool and calm and Gracie walked four whole miles with Mom. I am so proud of Gracie for walking the entire way and not complaining one bit!

There were so many fun things to see at the diabetic walk including Star Wars characters. Mommy walk for the first time in several years and raised $375 all by herself. Daddy was proud of all of us for working so hard to have a wonderful day.

Gracie, Lukie, Daddy, Storm Trooper, cousins, and Tia Adris

Yogurt with Mom

My children don't like ice cream. They would rather have ICEEs or frozen yogurt. Their favorite frozen yogurt is at Menchie's. They will beg to go.

Yesterday, Daddy went to a party and they convinced me to take them. We had so much fun! The hardest part is letting them be independent with making their own yogurt. There are so many things that can go wrong with toppings and frozen yogurt. So many things. 

The good news is that they are so proud of themselves when they put their cups on the scale. Little accomplishments like that go a long way.

Kindergarten Take Two

Today was Gracie and Lucas' first day of kindergarten at their new school. New uniforms, new shoes, new backpacks, knew everything! They are so excited to learn new things and get better at the things they already know.

A day at the park

Daddy and Lukie at the park.

Pirates at the Beach

Today, we drove to Long Beach and met Nana and Uncle Jimmy for breakfast. We ate at a restaurant called the Black Bear Diner and the food was huge!

Uncle Jimmy and Daddy

After breakfast, we drove to Belmont Pier and discovered pirates everywhere. It was Pirate Invasion 2013 and there were jumpies, cannons, and all kinds of craziness.

More than Lukie's feet got wet.

Gracie and Lucas asked if they could put their feet in the water at the beach. So I let them walk down to the sand and take their shoes off. After a few minutes someone named Lucas fell into the water accidentally on purpose. He was very wet, but that didn't stop him from having more fun. 

Playing in the water.

Gracie and Lucas with their feet in the water.

We walked up along the pier and saw lots and lots of pirates everywhere. We even saw a real parrot! Lucas got a tooth necklace and Gracie got a pirate scarf.

Uncle Jimmy, Nana, Lucas, Daddy, and Gracie at Belmont Pier

Afterward, we got in our car and drove around to see different parts of Lakewood and Long Beach. It was a great day because we got to spend it with Nana and Uncle Jimmy and be at the beach at the same time.

Next time, Gracie would like to build a sandcastle.

Climbing a giant tree at the pier.

Our First Trip to Disneyland!

Thanks to Mommy's friend from college, we got to go to Disneyland!  We did not tell Gracie and Lucas until this morning that we were going to Disneyland.  They went to  bed and thought they were going to school.  But, when we woke them up, we surprised them with the news that we were going to Disneyland.  Mommy made them both new hats for the day (it was chilly in the morning, thank goodness!).

Surprise!  We are going to Disneyland!

Erika met us at the front gates and took us inside for our first trip to the Magical Kingdom. She was so excited to meet Gracie and Lukie and Mommy was very happy to see her.  Thank you, Erika!

Gracie, Erika, and Lukie

We rode lots of rides.  The first, of course, was the Disneyland Tram.  Lukie asked Mommy if we were on a roller coaster.

Our first ride: The Disneyland Tram wearing the hats Mommy made for us!

Once inside, we started with Small World (Lukie was nervous about the boat).  We also road on Pirates of the Caribbean, Splash Mountain (times 2!), the Tea Cups (for Gracie), the train, Star Tours, Roger Rabbit, and Buzz Lightyear. Then, we made our way over to California Adventure and rode the Mater ride, hung out in Bugs World (and rode lots of things twice), rode the Little Mermaid ride.

Even though we did not get to ride everything, we did enough to create lots of fun memories.  One thing Mommy wants to remember forever is to thank Abue Rosi for Gracie and Lukie's gift cards.  Each card had $50 on them and Gracie and Lucas were able to spend their own money without actually carrying money!  Super Fun times!

Gracie -3 Lukie -1!

Today was the big day! Lucas and Gracie started t-ball. They were very excited for today. We surprised them by having donuts for breakfast. While we were driving Lucas all of a sudden let out a strange sound and said "Mommy, look!" when I turned around, I discovered that Lucas's tooth had fallen out. Finally, after a long time of waiting, Lukie's first tooth has fallen out!

Look!  Lukie is missing a tooth!

We stayed for opening ceremonies and had a lot of fun with new friends. Later in the afternoon, it was our very first t-ball game. It was so much fun, that Mommy and Daddy had to keep their mouths covered so that no one would see how hard they were laughing. It was a fantastic day! Gracie and Lucas are playing for the Granada Hills Blue Jays.  They each have new mitts and bats (Gracie's is Hello Kitty).  Lucas even has a bat that Bianca gave him.  He calls it his Fire Bat.

Blue Jays!

Later that night, the Tooth Fairy came and brought Lucas $5 for his first tooth. He was very excited to see what she has left him the next morning.

Gracie - 3, Lukie - 0

In August, Gracie and Lukie met the dentist for the very first time.  He was very nice and patient with them.  They had lots of fun and they think the dentist is a nice man with dolphins on his walls.  He told us then that Gracie was getting ready to start losing teeth.  Two of them would need to be pulled because she had an extra baby tooth that was crowding the others, but on the bottom, she actually had adult teeth starting to push the baby teeth away. For a moment or so, I was petrified by the idea of teeth being lost.  I mean, these are my five year olds!  They can't possibly be old enough to lose teeth!  But they were so excited about getting their "Mommy" and "Daddy" teeth, that I could not help but be excited for them.  Alas, I forgot about the Tooth Fairy.

I did not really think about how the whole Tooth Fairy thing would go.  I mean, there are some crazy parents out there.  They "glitterize" their money before they put it under the pillow or they do elaborate scavenger hunts for kids to find their treasure.  Me?  When Gracie lost her first two teeth (to the dentist), I was not prepared.  After I panicked for a few minutes, I realized that I could do something on our own and the Tooth Fairy letter was invented.  I downloaded a pretty picture of a tooth fairy and typed up letters that were left with the money under the pillow.  Gracie and Lukie get so excited when they see a letter from the Tooth Fairy.  I'm so glad I did something that worked for us.

Since Gracie's surgery, she lost a tooth at school (The envelope holding it was lost again in extended care.  Luckily, someone found it.) and she lost another one a few days ago.  Daddy has been joking with her that she has windows in her mouth.  He will play with her and say she has little Whos living in the windows of her teeth. She always giggles when he says that.

It has been a couple of days since Gracie lost the latest tooth and already, those adult teeth are pushing higher and higher in her mouth.  The gap on top, the one from her surgery, is still quite glaring, but it is getting better as it heals.

Lukie wants to know when he will start losing his teeth.  He will not be comforted by the reassurance that it will be soon.  He thinks of himself as the bigger and stronger twin and he wants to do things first.  Unfortunately for him, Gracie seems to do most things first, but he is never far behind!

Our First Day of Summer School

I've waited 5 years for today.  Today was the day that Gracie and Lucas got to come to work with me.  It was their first day of Summer School.  I planned our morning carefully to get us out of the door in record time.  I was very impressed by how hard they worked to get dressed and ready to go.

We arrived a little early and snapped this picture:

And this one

 And this one

We never did get a truly perfect photo.

At the end of Camp Mustang and Afternoon Athletics and After School Care, this happened on the way home.

And then there were the impressions of the day:

 

Daddy's helper

Unbeknownst to me, Lukie has been helping Daddy get his scooter on and off the lift. He is so proud of himself for helping his Daddy.

For the record, you should probably make sure that you are not in Lukie's way if you want to remain healthy!

Dressing ourselves

For the past month or so, we've been getting dressed before we go to Abue Rosi's house in the morning.  Usually, we can get away with me setting out Gracie and Lukie's clothes.  Occasioanlly, they refuse to wear what I put out and they insist on picking out what they want to wear.

Here are some of the results:

It boggles the mind.

Crazy kids who hurt my eyes

Because dressing yourself is always a good idea.

One of my favorite pictures

Reading with Aunt Bec.

A milestone

Do you know what this is?

It is the first time Gracie and Lucas wrote their names in the right order!  We usually have letters all over the page, but this time, they went in the right order.  I'm so excited!  I want to have them write their names so that I can preserve them for all time.

Baby Alyssa, Nino Joe and Tia Marci's daughter, is the recipient of this piece of history. Guard it well, little Alyssa!

So beyond proud!

Who needs a playground?

There are two playgrounds at this park. Gracie and Lukie would rather play on the sidewalk. This is why I dream of a real house in a real neighborhood for us.