Santa

Every year we go visit this guy. He resides at Victoria Garden's and the consensus is that he is the "actual real Santa," not just a helper.

Zac: Are you nervous Claire?

Claire: Yeah. Super nervous.

Zac: Me too.

I hope they always believe!

Report Card Time

I attended Zac and Claire's parent/teacher conferences today marking the end of the first trimester for first and third grade. Both kids teacher's had very nice things to say. I admit, it's always a relief.

Here is what Zac shared with me at his conference. I don't know if it's extremely entertaining only because it's by my child. You tell me.

Glad to know he isn't suffering from any esteem issues.

Church School

I'm currently teaching church school for Kindergarten and first graders at church. It's Claire's group and they are so sweet and fun. But frankly, I can't stand teaching church school. I feel like I'm at work on the weekend and I really don't know much about the "curriculum."

Case and Point,

Claire - Mommy what's that big "T" over there?

I'm driving to a soccer game on Saturday with Claire and Luke in tow. We pass by the Lutheran church on Baseline in Claremont that has an enormous cross in their front lawn when I'm asked this question. I stifle my laugh at my obvious parent failure that the granddaughter of a pastor thinks a cross is simply a letter.

Me - Well that's a church, and that's their cross.

C - What's a cross?

Me - (Continuing to kick myself for my serious neglect) Jesus died on a cross and so churches use it as a symbol.

C - How did a cross kill him?

Me - (Wow) Some bad people thought he should be punished and they nailed him to a cross where he died.

C - That's gross! Poor Jesus.

Silence

C - If I were there I would have punched those bad guys and said, "Don't kill Jesus you bad guys!" Then Jesus would have been saved.

Me - (laughing) That's nice of you Claire.

C - Did the bad guys where all black with dark caps on their heads and face?

Me - (laughing hard) I have no idea!

School Year Beginnings

School and soccer are in full swing. This season Claire is a Neon Zebra and Zac is a Golden Eagle. Their colors do not coordinate and Claire's requires sunglasses while viewing. I'm team mom for Zac's group that has turned out to be a fabulous group of parents and kids. Claire's coach is good. He's very business and scares me a little. (Don't tell Claire.) Other than some earring drama (Claire isn't supposed to wear any) our first games in 100 degree heat were great! Zac has professed his love for baseball so this very well could be his final season. To be continued...

Porsche and Diesel are suffering with all of us back at school. They've destroyed 2 giant Jade plants and a hose. It's amazing we still think they are extremely cute.
We put them in Butch and RoRo's pool and unfortunately they could swim.

Eric and I are settling into the new school year as well after a really nice summer. It was a rocky start. The freshman biology class that Eric lovingly refers to as "baby bio" is the first group of first graders I taught at Vista so many years ago. They hold a special place in my heart and sure enough Eric has a good number of them in his classes. It is very cool.

I made the move to Kindergarten teacher this year. So far I am absolutely loving it! These babies are so fresh and mold-able. I love that I know exactly what first grade teachers expect and hope that I can get these little guys prepared in the short 10 months we have together. I'm teaching with 2 incredible woman and I'm learning tons.

Luke has come so far in one year! I think back to last summer when his vocabulary was a mere 8 understandable words. Now he talks non stop and could care less whether you understand him or not. And you can, most of the time. He loves to spell his name and the word "dog." Although he thinks that L-U-K-E spells more than just Luke. The other day he said, "L-U-K-E, but hole." I'm so very proud. I think the audience of 3 older siblings has somehow influenced his use of "potty talk."

Sara started 8th grade and says it's "OK" and that her science teacher is "crazy." I always wonder what kids say about me and Eric to their parents. Unless it's that we are incredibly intelligent and inspiring, I really don't want to know.

It's a blurry image but it was so cute to see Sara, who looks so grown up, show her child like side when we went roller skating. She was very proud of herself!

50 Years

Summer is over so I feel I should hurry up and document the wonderful celebration our family enjoyed in honor of my parent's 50th wedding anniversary.

The Henderson's came for a week and as always we pick up where we left off! We endured a family photo shoot in the hills to start off our week. So glad we did since the photos, taken by a wonderful photographer, turned out AMAZING!

We made it to the beach where I was NOT able to bury my brother. Darn.

Mark and I teamed up and managed to put together a slide show for mom and dad. I stole the pictures and put them in the mail, and he put it together. Well done I'd say!

We went to dinner without our children at a restaurant in Pasadena called Parkway Grill. It was so peaceful. We could actually chew our food and make eye contact while having conversation. Wow!

The younger 2 generations, except for Luke (sorry buddy), adventured to Raging Waters. Minus a few changes the park should make to enhance the experience, we had a really good time! I learned that I am not as young as I thought. I inhaled a lot of chlorine and I think I pulled a muscle. And instead of laughing because the slide was so much fun, it was more an uncomfortable "gosh I hope I survive this" kind of laugh. The kids were brave and frankly, surprised me!

We ate a lot of food, rode bikes, and watched the kids swim about 11 hours a day.

We didn't have a big party, or travel somewhere exotic, but it was exactly the way Butch and RoRo hoped it would be. Happy Anniversary to the best parents ever! :) August 18, 2012

Corona Del Mar

I think I've mentioned before the awesomeness of this beach. Since my first beach experience wasn't until I was 9, the beach is NOT in my soul. But Corona Del Mar state beach has changed all of that. I can't wait for my brother's family to come from Kansas in a couple of weeks so I can share it with them.

And I'd really like to do this to my brother. ;)

Palm Springs

The temperature in Palm Springs last Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday was no lower than a dry 106 degrees. But we didn't notice because we were surrounded by swimming pools, water slides, a "lazy river", misters, cabanas, cocktails, lifeguards (thankfully), and good friends. My buddy "Mobes" from high school and his wife go every summer to Rancho Las Palmas resort and thought inviting some friends would make it all the more fun. Well it was! 6 adults and 11 kids between the ages of 1 and 13 made for LOTS of fun! We hope to make this a tradition.

Ballet Recital Round 2

Claire's eye healed almost completely in time for her ballet recital where she was a Prim Rose. She danced with her usual beautiful smile and ballet grace. During the routine she was also able to help another girl move to the correct place in line, she was sure to check the stage floor (a few times) to ensure she hit the right mark, then for the final pose she realized her arms were up instead of down and did a quick change. I wish I had video because it was awesome. Love her!

Summer Begins

Summer began last Thursday after an exciting week of field trips, award ceremonies, parties, report cards, picnics, plays, and more parties. A great end to an amazing school year.

Later that night...

Here is what happens when your brother swings a baseball bat and you are standing too close.



On the last day of school, thankfully, but only 10 days before the ballet recital. Darn. (Funny, I feel like I just posted a similar pic of Claire all too recently.)

Here is an award I received from dad at rotary. I was tricked into thinking I was going to see him get an honor. Had I known the truth, I would've looked cuter. ;)



Dad said some really mushy, gushy things about me. As a parent, I understand that those moments are pretty important. Thanks dad!

We also added a new car to our family which makes for a pretty happy husband. It also means that my happy husband has no excuse when asked to take the kids here and there. Life is good! Welcome summer!

Diesel

I feel the need to document the latest addition to the Tucker clan. This is Diesel.



A friend of ours was jogging in a not-so-great part of town and heard the sound of paw steps behind him. When he turned around he saw this very dirty, very submissive pit-bull. Unfortunately my friend had zero backyard and didn't have the heart to take him to a shelter knowing that a pit-bull would last maybe 3 days. So he decided to keep him until he could find a new home for him since he was clearly such a great dog. I held off for a few months, but when I heard they still couldn't find a place for him, I caved. Best decision we ever made. He is the sweetest boy and a great playmate for our super spazz, aka Porsche. You just look at him and he melts. If you raise your voice a teeny bit he cowers, always wants to please. He is pure love!

Birth Order

Today was the last day of school for summer at Luke's new preschool. The parents were invited to come and watch an awards assembly then head out to the playground for field day. OH YAY! Here is my public apology to Luke for birth order. It is completely out of his control that he is the last, the baby. But I went, I smiled, and I tried to fight the "Butch" in me that wanted to jet out of there as soon as the "award" was given out.



We blew bubbles, we did lawn bowling, we water played, and we stood in the 20 minute line for face painting (where I marveled at the mothers who read the note about field day and thought 3 inch heels were the appropriate attire). Apparently my child is the only kid at Step Up Preschool who requested Spider Man. The two teachers in charge didn't quite know what to do. Here is the end result. Hmmm... I even googled an image on my phone for inspiration. ??



Afterward we grabbed a snack, thanked his teachers, and left. Total time 1.5 hours. 1 hour longer then I would have liked, and we could have stayed another 1.5 hours! The best part of the day was afterward when I got to take him to Vons for some grocery shopping. I was extremely amused as we watched people try to politely NOT stare at his face. Or they looked and said "That's a cute...what is he?" Even better, we ran into his former speech teacher. He was too busy sipping his smoothie, with red paint dripping down his hands and neck, to say a word to her. Awesome!

Spring Break

It was just a little over a week ago that Eric and I were planning our fun filled, birthday celebrating, week off from work and school. We didn't realize what our week would really have in store for us.

Saturday I had to cancel birthday plans with the girls because Luke came down with a killer cold. After an urgent care visit that assured us it was a virus, we packed the asthma medication, celebrated Easter,

then headed up to Big Bear regardless and spent a fabulous 2 days. We surprised Luke with an early birthday present, his first big boy bike!

We adventured to the Alpine Slides and spent an hour and a half riding the ski lift up and speeding down the slide. Zac was old enough to go alone and I was very proud of his bravery!

Thursday was my 30 something-th birthday. I had high hopes for the day that were quickly deflated. At lunch I looked inside Claire's mouth, touched a tooth that looked a little "off", and ended up with a piece of it in my hand. After 4 shots and a lot of drilling, 2 hours had passed. She was so brave and only began screaming at the end. They sent us home and I believed all to be well.

This is what she looked like the next morning after a night of Advil, Tylenol, and lots of tears. Still, I thought she'd be ok.

The next day, Luke's 3rd birthday, she really wasn't ok and we headed to urgent care because, of course, it was Saturday. She got 2 extremely painful shots of antibiotics as well as a liquid antibiotic. We made it home just in time for Luke's party.

He was so excited to tear open his gifts not matter what was inside. Really, I could have packed rocks in paper and saved some cash! He picked out a tie for the event and was so thrilled to see his Little Einsteins cake with "Rocket" perched on top. It was a great ending to what seemed like a really rough few days. Luke never fails to emanate pure joy that is truly contagious. We can hardly believe 3 years have passed since he joined our family. Because of birth order, he's still and always will be our baby! :)

In between all the drama Eric and I did get to spend 2 evenings out with great friends. Most notable our adventure to the Walt Disney Concert Hall to see the LA Phil Harmonic. It was amazing! Thanks mom and dad!

Today everyone went back to school. Except for Claire, Luke, and I. Luke begins his journey at a new preschool tomorrow. Claire gets another day off to visit a pediatric dentist. More on all that to come!

Henderson Visit 2012

Cousins!

I beginning to come out of my post Henderson visit depression. It hit hard when I returned to work last Monday when I didn't have one of my nephews coming along with me. Yes, Andrew and Thomas both got to be honorary Vista students for a day. It was so awesome to get one on one time with 2 of my favorite out of 4 boys in this world! I believe both of the boys thought I was a decent teacher but my students were "naughty." I didn't say it, they did!

Our whirlwind trip consisted of lots of cousin spy game playing. The game has reached a new level. Now copious notes are taken with precise locations of each adult in the house. We had a cousin sleepover with lots of laughter and not much sleep! We spent enough time in traffic on the freeway to last a year, but were able to visit some pretty exciting places: The LA Natural History Museum, La Brea Tar Pits, Long Beach harbor boat tour, and Santa Monica pier. Thomas and Andrew are professional sight seers. My children, on the other hand, are not. In short, Luke didn't care to see dinosaur bones, he wanted REAL dinosaurs and Claire thought it was "stupid" that the tar pits only had dead animals. The harbor tour was a hit all the way around except that Mark may want to pack a sweater while visiting the coast in early spring. The Santa Monica pier was fabulous except that it was almost cold enough to snow. We ate A LOT of food and had a great time catching up on lost time.

*Sidenote - Eric and I got a night out with Mark and Susan with no kids. (Thanks mom and dad.) Haven't laughed that hard in a while! I'm always happy to entertain with touching stories about my past. ;)

Pinkalicious

I just finished packing up the last many reminders of the insane birthday celebration we had for Claire this past week. We went big this year since it's her first birthday in Kindergarten and I figured a large group of girls is NOthing compared to a large group of boys. I was ambitious to say the least. Thanks to RoRo for the crafts for the craft table. Thanks to Oma for the sugar cookies for the cookie decorating table, and the cupcakes. Thanks to Porsche for not eating the bounce house as tempting as it was. There were a total of 24 kids in my backyard and a few adults who were brave enough to stay. It was 2 hours of cheering and screaming and lots of fun! The theme...Pinkalicious.

Since Claire was old enough to understand I told her I would let her pierce her ears whenever she wanted too. Knowing how terrified she is of any sort of pain I figured it may never happen. Like she does so often, she surprised us. The morning of her birthday I greeted her with the usual hug and happy birthday greetings. She yawns and asks me if she's 6. When I say yes she announces it's time to get her ears pierced. Well, ok! She sat in the chair at "Claire's" and allowed a complete stranger to shoot a gun through her ears without a tear. We were impressed and amazed. Today she has a cold and had to hold my hand to swallow the cough medicine through her sobs. She is a never ending dramatic comedy.

The Park

Am I alone when I say that I strongly dislike the park? Not only do I dislike it, but I'm pretty sure it brings on anxiety that I never experience in any other day to day situations. The park is never age appropriate to meet the needs of all of my children. It's dirty. It's in public with no bathroom or sink readily available. But the worst part about the park is the other children! I barely have control over my own with out these strange kids interfering! Nevertheless, I go to the park. I have too. I'm a parent. And I love these kids!

Christmas 2011

It's 2012 and I've fallen behind as usual. But of course Christmas was wonderful as always. Lots of fun, family, food, and food, and more food. This video and this moment is my favorite of the season. Enjoy!