The Rest of December 2009

Here's the rest of December.

Christmas 2009

Here are some pictures from Christmas time. Mandy's parents (Grandma and Granddad) were here again and both kids were VERY into Christmas this year! We decorated a gingerbread train this year for a new tradition and went to see the lights on Eucalyptus street here in San Carlos as is our usual Christmas Eve tradition.

Holiday Train 2009

This year's annual trek to see Santa arrive into town on the Holiday Train was a bit of a bust due to a bad rain storm. We braved it but didn't stay long!

Winter Festival at Roan's School

Roan's preschool put on a Winter Festival which included snow (hauled in of course) and Santa! As predicted...Roan took an immediate dislike to the snow, though Mali loved it, and they both agreed Santa was someone they should both fear with their life.

The rest of October 2009

Here are a few pictures from the rest of October including some from the Halloween Fun Faire Roan's preschool puts on every year. It was a bunch of fun. The kids also had portraits taken and there's a sample included!

Halloween 2009

We started Halloween a day early with the annual Goblin Walk through the shops of downtown San Carlos with our friends Amelie and Colby. On Saturday we went trick-or-treating back in our old neighborhoods with some friends. Mali was a ladybug fairy (which she would wear everyday if we let her) and Roan was a train that he designed himself.

Pumpkin Patches October 2009

We went to two pumpkin patches. The first was a real pumpkin farm with fun things like wagons and the second one was full of "fun" things like pony rides and jumpy houses. Mali's favorite activity was pony riding and Roan's was train riding, of course, though he actually did try out the ponies for the first time this year!

Roan's First Day of St. Paul's

Roan started a new preschool this year and absolutely loves it. Here are a few shots from his first day!

September 2009

Both Mali and Roan are growing up so fast. Mali can hold a pretty good conversation at this point, loves to ask "why?", and still loves her babies, "meows", and the color blue. Roan is thriving at school this year, loves to practice writing his letters, and is loving swimming lessons these days. He also seems to be developing little crushes and recently woke Jan at 5am one morning to ask him, "Daddy, are you thinking about Skye?" who is a friend of his from school. When Jan said "No, are you?", he responded "Yeah" with a big smile on his face.

Mali's First "Senior" Day at Little Wonders

Some pictures from Mali's first day back at Little Wonders this year. She's so excited to go every week and "see her friends" (whom she promptly ignores as soon as we're there).

Camping September 2009

Aaaahhhh, life is starting to get back to normal since the move. We spent a couple of days camping near Yosemite over the Labor Day weekend. We had a campsite by a little stream and the kids had a blast. Unfortunately we couldn't have a campfire due to fire restrictions, so no roasted marshmallows - the whole reason Roan went camping - but there was a miniature golf course on site which more than made up for it.

Daddy's Birthday Celebration (June 2009)

Mali's Second Birthday

Well, it only took 4 months to get these pictures up, but here they are! She had a pretty low-key birthday. We had a small playgroup gathering as well as a little barbecue with some friends to celebrate both Mali's and Dylan's (her best friend from across the street) birthdays which are a week apart.

Is the search finally over???

At the risk of jinxing ourselves, we appear to be in escrow on a house in San Carlos!

Miscellaneous May 2009

Here are a few miscellaneous shots from May. Both kids have grown up so much. Roan likes to talk all the time - he's especially talkative while driving and is constantly questioning why I stop at red lights, why the other cars get to go, what would happen if I didn't stop, what would happen if there were no stop signs or stop lights, etc. It goes on, and on. I think he'll have all of the traffic rules down by age 5. He's still really in to doing puzzles and it's impossible to keep enough maze books in the house - he'll finish a whole maze book during a 45-minute quiet time.

Mali is all about talking right now too and is very big on "I DO!!!" for everything. She's still extremely independent and such a quick learner - she quietly watches everything we do and then does it when we're not watching - this is how she taught herself to ride her brother's scooter. Unfortunately this can be dangerous as well as she's known for helping herself to whatever is cooking on the stove (like eggs in a frying pan). She just gets a fork, reaches up, and catches something. Yikes. She's still obsessed with the color blue (while her brother says his favorite color is ALL the colors) and is very into coloring, including decorating her Daddy's laptop with a dry-erase marker when he wasn't looking. She's very into clothing as well and loves to get dressed every morning in a dress, preferably one with blue in it!

A Day at Preschool with Roan...

I took some photos on my last work day at school with Roan. He's really settled in and it is such a joy to watch him at school - he's so outgoing, fun-loving, and curious!

Mothers' Day Tea

Roan's preschool hosted a "Mother's Day tea" for all of the moms, complete with all sorts of treats and tea (served cool of course!). The kids had prepared a sweet song for the moms that definitely brought tears to your eyes!

Moving Time!!

It's official - the Arendtsz fortress has been sold. We will be officially homeless on July 2, though we will be taking a sublet (and putting all of our stuff in storage) in the area through the end of August. We're crossing our fingers we find a house to buy by then!

Roan's Fourth Birthday!!!

Roan turned 4 on May 14! We celebrated all day long, beginning with chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast, pizza and a cookie out for lunch, and a burrito out for dinner followed by frozen yogurt (all of his favorite activities). He had a celebration that weekend with a few of his friends in our back yard, complete with a train jump house. His big gift was a bike and he is speeding around the neighborhood way to fast for Mommy's taste already. Here are a few pics from the celebrations.

Grandma & Granddad's - April 2009

There's been a big break in posting due to putting our house on the market!

These pictures are from our trip to Houston to visit Grandma and Granddad (and to escape being here when the house went on the market!). The kids had a bunch of fun celebrating Easter, visiting a close friend of Mandy's from college (Kinsey) and her two little ones, going to the zoo, visiting the Children's Museum, and enjoying the wonderful weather outside and Mom got a little break.

February 2009

Mali's communication has just exploded this month. She's combining two and three words together to make complete thoughts (like "Ro-ro Dada car?" (Roan's in Dada's car?); ). She's also started using her name ("May-me"). She recently told us that her ear was hurting and when I took her to see the pediatrician, the doctor first wanted to listen to her chest...Mali said "No", then pointed to her ear to tell her that's where it hurt - it was too funny. Her favorite color is blue and she's obsessed with it (she MUST have the blue cup, the blue plate, the blue sweater...you get the idea). Roan's world is just amazing and he's so full of stories. He's so outgoing (once you get him out of the house) and loves to jump into games with other kids (mostly involving chasing and monsters) at the park. He's wonderfully joyous and full of energy.

Where's baby?

Mali is learning to take a picture of her baby doll in this video (sorry, it's a little dark as it was 6am in the morning)...

January 2009

Mali's been very busy this month asserting her independence and one of her favorite new words is "mine". She also mastered "baby" and likes to direct her babies all day long (e.g., "sit there, baby"; "wa-wa, baby?" (do you want water, baby)).

Miscellaneous December 2008

Some of the highlights of the month (other than Christmas!) included visits from Uncle Pankaj and Aunty Ruby from Houston and Sherilyn (one of Roan's favorite former babysitters) from Seattle. There are also some shots here of decorating the Christmas tree, Mali tending to her babies, and of Roan with Grandma and Granddad on the day they left (Mali was in a bad mood and wanted no part of it).

Christmas Morning 2008

We very much enjoyed having Grandma and Granddad here again for Christmas this year. Roan was soooo into Santa this year, which was a lot of fun. Mali, of course, didn't understand much, except that her brother got cooler gifts than she did. Roan's big gifts were the "Grand Central Station" for his GeoTrax train set and a big Tonka front loader truck from Grandma and Granddad. Mali got some Tinkertoys from Santa, a front carrier for her babies from Grandma and Granddad, and an outfit for her baby doll.