10 Mile Mission Run---San Juan Bautista, CA

Yesterday marked the 3rd year I have participated in this event. The first year, my two oldest children and I ran the 5k. Last year I ran the 10 miler by myself. Yesterday my youngest ran the 1 mile Fun Run (and did awesome by the way). My two middle kids ran the 5k (awesome as well). And I did the 10 miler again. Unlike past years, many of my friends and their children were there as well to participate and it made the whole morning SO MEMORABLE! I am so proud of my kids for WANTING to do it (yes, WANTED to). If I can instill a love of running (or any other sport/exercise) in them, then I will sleep better at night knowing I did something right as a parent. While I constantly struggle with my weight, I have always been consistent with exercise in my life and feel that my overall health has benefitted because of it. It's a lesson I hope my children are learning. And while I am sorta proud of myself for running 10 miles yesterday, the thrill of the day came from my children running.

Blogging Funk

I've been in a blogging funk for the last 6 months or so. While it's easy for me to spend time READING blogs, I just haven't been able to muster enough strength to write my own. I have plenty to write about and plenty of pictures to post (cuz let's face it, blog posts are much more fun with a picture, right?). But I have always been an inconsistent journal writer, and that's what my blog is, a modernized journal. My journal-keeping mimics my scrapbooking efforts as well. I have attempted on several occasions to organize my pictures in a meaningful, fun way. But to my dismay, I spend HOURS and HOURS trying to design a page and end up disliking the outcome. It's not a gratifying experience. But you give me a sewing machine, a tile saw, or any other power tool and I am as happy as can be! In a nutshell...I guess blogging is not a creative outlet for me, as it is for so many others. While I LOVE reading blogs (it's a source of much inspiration for my projects), I just don't have the energy to blog about my own. I do have another blog that is in the works. This one will be a journal for all my sewing, craft & home provement projects. It's my hope to be more consistent with that blog at least. In the meantime, I WILL do better about keeping a record of our family. They bring me so much joy--it's a shame not to write about it.

Merry Christmas 2010

Make your own digital greeting card

Toughest Jobs

Next to being a parent, I believe being a teacher is one of the hardest jobs that exists in this world. It's the last day of school and I can't help but feel gratitude for the many wonderful teachers my children have had over the years. Our school district is in serious financial trouble and many fine teachers have been laid off. I feel sadness for the struggle this poses. I wish I had the means to make it all better for them. I wish there was a way to give them all the credit and recognition they deserve. But I can't. All I can offer is my utmost appreciation and thanks. But I'll never really be able to thank them enough. These few pictures are just a small tribute.

Mrs. Deetz-Berlin's 3rd grade teacher

Mr. Talavera-Kort's 5th grade teacher

Mrs. Molina-Kamryn's kindergarten teacher

Mrs. Crepeau-Kylii & Kort both had her in 4th grade

Mr. Rivas-Kylii's 5th & 6th grade teacher + 7th & 8th PE coach

Play Ball!

It's here! Baseball season has begun! First games were played today and Kort's team, the Rockies, started out well with a 10-3 win. Kort is a rookie this year (got drafted to the majors), so he has to prove himself a little bit more. He had an impressive first game and we are excited to see him grow and improve. As much as baseball has overrun my life this past month, it's all worth it! Even the team banner, which took every spare second of my days, was fun to do.

Eastern Caribbean Cruise

A few weeks ago Arnell and I had a chance to go on a cruise with some of our dear friends from Hollister. We boarded the ship in Miami and stopped at four ports: Half Moon Cay, Bahamas; St. Thomas, USVI; San Juan, Puerto Rico; and Grand Turk, BWI. It's only the second time that we've ever cruised, (eight years ago, right before we moved to California, we went on a Western Caribbean cruise with some friends of ours from college). For those eight years in between cruises, it has been hard to get away for more than a day or two and I feel so grateful that my DH finally made it happen. Thanks Arnell for a wonderful week! I hope it's not another 8 years before we do this again;-) I want to go back tomorrow!
(click on slideshow box if you want to see pics in full size)

A Year in Pictures

I have not blogged in months so I decided to play "catch up" by stealing an idea from two of my friends' blogs. Thank you Stef and Denae for the idea!

I realized that I could really make two blog posts....one could be "Favorite Pics of the Year" and the other "Highlights of the Year". This slideshow is a compilation of both. I can't believe how big my 2009 photo file is. It was really hard to narrow my selection so there are 90 photos to view. Click through as fast or slow as you like:-) Double click on the photo to enlarge it.