Family

Eric's mom came for a visit in June. Eric hadn't seen her for close to three years. While she was here, her family celebrated her father's 80th birthday in Visalia. These are a few shots of that visit, plus a few others of Eric's fam:


A whole lot of Kroebers:



Us with Eric's ma' Kathy, his sister Brea, and her son, Gauge:
Aunt Bea and Sani:

Grandma Kathy's visit it our house:

Grandma Kathy shared some pics from Auntie Janel. Here's one of baby Brandon:
Cousin Malorie and Uncle Paul: Just a random pic of Aunt Bea and cousin Gauge. You can see who Cadence takes after:

Sani's First Birthday

We had a small party for Sani at my grandpa's place in June. We'll be there this Saturday to celebrate Cadence's third birthday.

Sani and Oma:
Ompa doesn't disappoint when it comes to silliness:

Cousin Gauge, Aunt Bea, and Cadence:

Squishy balls are fun:

Yum, watermelon!

Cake time:

Outer Artist

Sani 'N' Things

Outdoor Play

Garden Shots

Two reasons a carpeted eating area is a bad idea:

Zoo

Enjoy some pix from a trip to the local zoo:

Somewhere there's a picture of me as a child in this same arch. Cadence called it her "new home".
A surprising comparison!

Sani loved the petting zoo, Cadence wouldn't touch any animals, but was fascinated when a goat pooped.

This sly goat is retrieving a piece of trash to munch on. This was moments after it snatched a map out of Eric's back pocket as an appetizer. Our big boy enjoying the playground:

Cadence cozies up to some new animal friends:

No good excuses

At least I really couldn't think of any to again explain the lack of posts....just life I guess. This past weekend we all took a trip to the Bay area for a wedding. Made it a bit of a family vacation. It was nice to get away to a cooler climate, to see some old friends and take some extra time to be together just Eric the kids and I. Although I do confess I got a little pampering in on Friday morning when I joined the bride to be and bridesmaids for manis and pedis. Ahhhhh.....:)

Cadence turned three yesterday, and for the moment is coloring quietly at the table behind me with some new art stuff from Great Aunt Diane. Sani has now quieted down for his nap. Eric is out running some errands all by himself, a rare treat for him these days. And here I am enjoying the peace.

Work plugs along for me. I survived my first class and enjoy the homework-free summer. Eric continues to care for the kids full-time and is on summer break from teaching dance until the fall. Cadence is potty trained now, has learned about half the alphabet by sight, and loves to count. Sani is not a baby anymore. He does just about anything and everything these days, is on his way to a mouthful of teeth, and had started those lovely tantrums when things don't go his way.

These days I try to savor the simple things around me like the laughter of my kids. I try to soak up the time when one of them wants to sit on my lap just to be held. I relish when Cadence and I swing together, the cool of the summer air flowing through our hair as we gaze lazily up at the blue of the sky, or watch humming birds zip around the yard. And the stolen moments when Eric and I linger in an embrace before we are discovered by one of the kids. So perhaps I've just discovered the best excuse of all....all the moments like these and so many more, of living, of loving, of being.

Why I havn't updated this blog in awhile...

...things are getting hectic! Somehow it seemed like a good idea to go back to school to finish my masters while working full-time, being a mommy of two small children, and a volunteer at the church. Not a lot of time for my dear friend, the blog.

So another quick update. In the last couple months I turned 30 and found my first gray hair. Cadence has taken to sometimes calling me Liz and has informed me I have a big "bum". Sani has gotten very good at walking, developed an unrequited love for the toilet, and become our resident billy goat by climbing anything and everything he possibly can. Eric has landed a part-time position teaching dance classes at a high school afterschool program (which he will begin sometime after he gets his background check cleared...so maybe next school year). If things go well for him there, he may get to teach at a few other schools in that district, and possibly help choreograph school productions. He is excited to teach dance and actually get paid for something he loves!

My class wraps up May 12th, so maybe I'll have a bit more time to update this thing. That would be nice. Thanks for tuning in.

My bro and his gal Marie with us at our 70's birthday bash:

Our little guy at Easter, getting so grown up!

Our little lady at Easter, a little camera shy:

Buckets make great hats!

Climbing of course!

For Lauren

Here are some pictures of the rest of your family!

Janel and Malorie:
Janel's husband Paul:

Brea:

Brea's son Gauge:

We should get some new photos of Brea and Gauge this weekend, and hopefully all of us will get photos of baby Brandon soon (hint, hint Janel). :)

For those of you tuning in, Lauren is Eric's "long-lost" younger sister. We've recently been re-connected, and we're so excited!

Been awhile...

...a long while! We were "internet challenged" for a few weeks. We made a change to our phone service and then began having problems with the line. Gave me flashbacks to those days before the internet existed...can barely remember that! Whatever did we do?

Life has been busy here. Some quick updates with some pics to follow hopefully sometime soon. Eric is still looking for work and doing a great job as a full time daddy right now. He passed the CBEST and is working towards the other qualifications to become a substitute teacher or after school program teacher. We're hoping maybe he can find something part-time that pays decent so he can still take care of the kiddos most of the time. It's better for them that way, and better for our budget. Props to all you families who have figured out a way to have a parent home with the kids!

Things around the office these days have been a little bit of a roller coaster with the state budget and county budget being uncertain. Tensions have been higher than usual, but I am thankful to have a job. It will be an interesting next 6 months or so I think. There are still huge budget deficits to be accounted for...which means more change is yet to come! In the midst of this I thought, why not try to finish school. I started class Tuesday and boy am I rusty! I hope to finish up the MA program in Marriage, Family and Child Counseling in a couple more years, although if something happens to my job too, I guess I could just be a full-time student and get'er done!

Cadence is growing and growing. Her language is really coming along, we can have conversations! Some of her pronunciation is still fuzzy so we work with her. If need be, I will use my social working skills and get her hooked up with speech therapy this summer. She can count to 20 (sometimes), and recognizes a handful of letters now. She and Sani play together at times now that he can handle some of her rough housing, and every night she insists on giving him a bedtime kiss. For her it's all about the little rituals and routines throughout the day. When those don't always work out, we sometimes have major tantrums on hands. We're managing so far...still all alive and accounted for!

Sani is developing by leaps and bounds and will be 9 months on Saturday. He is a lightening quick crawler, cruises furniture like a pro and can now take steps with only one hand being supported. He loves mealtime and gobbles up everything from baby food and toddler snack to bits of whatever we're eating. So far the only thing he has outright rejected is prune juice...who can blame him? He babbles up a storm, loves to jump, rock and bob to music, can clap and and wave hello and goodbye. He's got his first tooth with the second about to make its appearance. He is still a pretty sociable little guy.

So that's the latest and greatest on us these days! Hope everything is good in your neck of the woods. :)