Golfing

We finally made it to the driving range with Alec, so that he could see what to do with the golf clubs we got him. He had a blast playing with all of the golf balls. We think the thing he remembered most about this experience was that after you hit the golf ball your hands and club should end up high in the air. Since then, he does this funny follow through after he hits the ball that you can see in the video. He is growing up so much and being so much fun.

Easter

We had a really fun Easter this year. Alec enjoyed 4 Easter Egg Hunts, and by the last one, he was quite the pro. Church was really nice. We subbed in nursery and it is such a blessing, since Alec is at that hard 15 month-old "super antsy in class but too young for nursery" stage. We colored eggs and had my family's traditional egg roll, which Chris won. I was surprised how quickly Alec caught on and after watching our friend Oliver do it well, it got me excited for next year already! Our Easter dinner was not something to write home about but we were busy getting ready for our camping trip that started the next day...of which I will post about soon.

He got his leg painted at the EV Egg roll on Saturday, he was very wary.

Alec looking inside his eggs for more candy!

Alec "coloring" his eggs. He started off coloring on real hard-boiled eggs and after smashing the first two into the table (which ruins them for the egg roll!) we gave him plastic eggs to work with.

Celebrate

Well we survived the week of finals and babysitting. Chris had some doozies, the worst was a 24 hour "take home" final which took him about 12 hours! He was at the library until 2:00am last night and went in early before turning it in by noon. What a way to finish up a week full of 1 midterm, 1 paper, 2 homeworks and 1 24 hour final. Also this week, I was fortunate to get a few babysitting jobs. For the last two days all day (9:oo-4:30) I've been the "mother" of 4 children, ages 6, 5, 2, 1. The children were actually very good natured and Alec loves to have friends over so it really was a happy home for the most part, thanks to my mediation skills. However, I'm still so totally exhausted and drained that I went to sleep the last two nights at 9:00 and 10:00. Good thing the "celebrate" endorphins are kicking in so Chris and I can watch a movie and enjoy some sorbet or else I would probably bite the dust in the next half hour before Chris comes home from scouts... at least we are both hoping that they kick in soon. :)

Enjoy this random movie of Alec's new / detested skill. (detested by the parents, that is, HE loves it)

fyi - the detested skill is the climbing on chairs/table skill, not the cute way to say "thank you" skill.

Alecisms

This entry will be devoted to a few cute Alecisms. First, the bellybutton. Alec discovered his belly button yesterday. He pulled his onesie super far out and looked down. I wish I got that much joy from looking at my bellybutton!

Second, Alec has learned to open the screen door / sliding glass door when it's not locked. Yesterday he used this new-found skill to go play out on our patio and ended up climbing in the bike trailer. He got out to get his helmet, then climbed back in, tried to put on his helmet, and looked at me as if to say, "Alright, I'm ready... why aren't we going anywhere?" I guess he's really enjoyed our bike rides to church on Sundays. Personally, I've LOVED those.


Third, we gave him his own bowl and spoon for lunch today. He had so much fun! We had tomato soup with grilled cheese sandwiches and he sat contently in his chair for so long, we were able to finish our lunches and he was still going! He did quite well using the spoon correctly. He only tipped out soup onto the floor once. This is such a fun time with him! (I need to remind myself of that more and more often)

Rise until double

So I've been wanting to make bread more often than buy it, in an effort to stay closer to our food budget for the month. This batch was more of a handful than I expected since I didn't realize the recipe I was using made 6 loaves, requiring 12 cups of flour until it was time to add the flour. I didn't have enough white flour and had to use wheat for the last couple of cups. My Kitchen Aide mixer (as I found out mid-try) can't contain that much flour without spilling out dough everywhere! So I was forced to do old fashioned hand-kneading for 10+ minutes and gratefully placed it in a bowl to rise until double. I came back after an hour to check on it and this is what I found. I probably should have realized it wasn't all going to fit in my bowl when it was double, oh well. It'll still taste good ... hopefully.


Ok, Alec has been dying to give his two cents so here goes, accompanied by some super cute pictures of him.

kbkhuuuuuuu nhkbhhbjbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbk.,mnb

(those last 6 characters were done by his feet, seeing as how he didn't think he was done when I thought he was) Ok, here are his pictures:



I'm not sure how he managed that one, but he did it all by himself!

Wonderful weather...wonderful life

The weather here has been fantastic, literally perfect. With all this sun we've really been able to enjoy our bike trailer. I take Alec in it everywhere: the library, the bank, the store, Daddy's office, the community garden, etc... It is amazing how much brighter life can be with a simple thing like nice weather. Feeling the sun on my face or back with a pleasant breeze blowing my hair while I watch my little boy play in the sand or go down the slide is pure joy. I have a wonderful life and I'm thankful for it.

Alec helping Daddy get the bikes ready for a ride.


Nice and comfortable in the trailer.


Oh and I've been taking naps almost every day now, I'm starting to like it.

Family Fun

My family (Mom, Dad, Sarah and Hailey) stayed with us this past week and today, they are gone. We had so much fun just chilling around here doing bike rides, hikes, watching movies and playing ultimate frisbee and tennis. We also toured San Fransisco a bit on Monday: Golden Gate Park, Fisherman's Wharf, and the Zoo! My sister Sarah got on ABC's 7 news because that day was the first day for the lion's exhibit to be opened since those people got killed by the tiger a few months back.

In addition to visiting my aunt and cousins up in Rocklin, CA all day Wednesday, my dad helped Chris and I get our garden ready for planting! We used an ingenious method to keep out the birds with some netting and good old' pbc(at least thats what I've always called it) pipe, which dad calls the "covered wagon method." I'll have to post some pictures after we get things planted.

Now the house seems too quiet, but that should actually be a good thing since Alec is taking a 3 hour nap! Where that came from, I have no idea...