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Hanging out at home

Kathryn's 1st week

Kathryn Elizabeth

She has impeccable timing is all we have to say. She decided to come out the day before I was scheduled to get induced, so everything was packed and the fridge was stocked and everything was ready. I got my first contraction at 12:30pm and was checked into the hospital by 2:30pm.

Kathryn arrived Wednesday, February 11, 2009 at 6:30pm. She weighed in at 6lbs. 12 oz. and 18 inches (although at the doctor's office 5 days later, she was 19 inches, so I don't know how accurate that hospital measurement is). She is a delight to all of us. Lauryn is so in love with her and can't put her down. Sydney is even warming up to her (after a few days of ignoring her in the hospital).

She had her days and nights flipped for the first 6 days, but now is getting on track - thank the good Lord!

New Favorite Thing

Our family is slowly and sometimes painfully trying to be more green and chemical-free. So out went the plastic tupperware and most of the kids' plastic bowls and cups (with a few exceptions). I'm definitely not a fresh and bright type of green. I'm more of a bitter and dark green. Very unwilling, but still, give me some time. I might get to a nice shade of seafoam one day.

So with our plastics also went our aluminum nonstick woks (my everyday staples!). John got me a stainless steel wok that weighs a ton, but at least it wasn't teflon, right? But man alive! That thing is the opposite extreme of nonstick! I would hate to cook thinking I'd have to spend a good 30 minutes each night scrubbing it with a steel wool to get it clean. Then one day I stopped into Sur La Table, browsing as usual since it's usually too expensive to buy anything there. They had this new nonstick cookware collection that wasn't made of teflon and is supposed to be green! I splurged and got the wok. (I had a $10 off coupon, which didn't make even a dent, but it made me feel a little better that I didn't waste the coupon. - Call me crazy like that.)

So after about 3 weeks of use, I have to say that I LOVE this wok! Nothing sticks to it! And it cleans up like a breeze! It's made by Scanpan. It's not the lightest wok, but I guess that's the trade-off. Still, I'm thrilled to have a new favorite thing!

Michael Phelps at VISA!

It's a little strange to me that Michael Phelps came to Foster City today - outside of VISA's offices in the small lawn area across the street from Costco. I mean, he went to Disneyworld and London and I'm sure a ton of other great places. And he's going to be on Oprah. Oprah! And here he is sitting in a tent across from Boston Market taking pictures with VISA employees. I guess that's kinda awesome in a way - for us. And then you gotta feel a little bad for the guy. John said he looked like he was really bored. He was like a character at Disneyland you stand in line to take pictures with. But still, it's really cool!

1st Day of School

Can it be that time already? This year's fashion was minus the princesses, and all about Hannah Montana - courtesy of her Aunties Lil and Yo.

Lauryn's newest favorite shows are: iCarly, Hannah Montana, and The Suite Life.

Sydney's favorites are still Little Einsteins and Dora the Explorer. Although she ends up watching whatever her sister watches.

This year, we started a new house rule. No tv on school days. And tv on the weekends only if chores have been completed for the week. So far so good. But it's only been a week and a half. Any bets on how long this will last??

Bracelets

It's always great to see Auntie Yo when she comes back to visit from NY. Lauryn made bracelets for everyone in the family - except daddy.

Malibu Party

Yes, it's still around. My first thought when considering Malibu for Lauryn's 7th birthday was whether it was as junky as I remember it from my last trip when I was a sponsor for Sonlight about 10 years ago. But we were looking for something with arcades and prizes and something easy and not cost an arm and a leg, and a kidney or a liver or any other important organ.

To our surprise, it was one of the easiest and most fun birthday parties we've had! And it was clean and not junky at all! In fact, John wants to go back to play arcades sometime. Lauryn did really well on Deal or No Deal. Auntie Yo didn't do so well. But she presisted until she lost all of her tokens. That must be her gambling side coming through.
Mini-golf was fun also - no score keeping allowed.
More pictures from the day here.

So. Cal

The summer wouldn't be complete without a trip to So. Cal to visit our dear friends, Loc and Christina. It was HOT down there! I realized that as much as I like it when it's hot, I need a little break now and then.
We decided not to do the Disneyland thing again. It's sometimes just not worth waiting in the hot sun for a handful of rides during the summer. Instead, we spent a day at Legoland and the highlight of the day was watching John, Loc, Lauryn and Rachel try to put out the fire at the Firefighter attraction. Christina has it on video somewhere. I need to get a copy of that sometime.We also took the kids to The Spectrum for lunch and a train ride. The thing with LA is there seems to be a gigantic mall every few miles. Some are so big that you need to cross over a skywalk and over to another complex to get to some of the shops. That's just too much walking!


Sydney's favorite thing was just the swing in the backyard. Here's Josh being a gentleman and pushing Sydney on the swing.

The Race

Lauryn had another great summer at our church's Day Camp this year. The theme was The Race. She learned the books of the New Testament and had a great time singing it for the closing ceremony.

Lauryn's 1st Grade Picnic

I can't believe that the school year is over already and we have a soon-to-be 2nd grader!

I love that we live next to the park. Lauryn's school has their picnics there and it's so convenient.

The kids made tie-dye shirts to wear for the picnic.

Sydney's Pre-School Graduation

It's weird that they call it graduation. Sydney just ate a lot of snacks and played with bubbles.

Publishing Party

Lauryn wrote a book called, "All About Dogs" and dedicated it to Auntie Lil's dog, Yuki. Well, she spelled Yuki's name "Yucky".

Bath time

All I said was, "Sydney, go upstairs and take a bath." This is what we found a few minutes later when we went upstairs.

The Billy Goats Gruff

Lauryn took an afterschool drama enrichment class this spring. The kids put on a play at the end of the session and they could choose to be a goat or a troll. Can you ever imagine Lauryn choosing to be a troll? Lauryn was one of the little baby goats.

Sydney's Birthday Party

It was so hot that day that the ice cream cake almost melted. But Sydney had a great time!

See more pictures from that day here.

Blast Off with Rocket!

I couldn't resist getting this for Sydney for her birthday. She loves the Little Einsteins.

Usually when she opens gifts, she's not very interested. But she was so happy with this that it was totally worth it!