Valentines Day and Presidents Day Weekend

Valentines day was very exciting in our house this year. Ciara had been learning all about it at school and would come home all excited about the party they were going to have and the cards she was going to get (Here in the US it is traditional for the kids to give little cards to everyone in the class). Fiona picked up on this excitement and thought that Valentines was some great place we were all going to go to. This year Ciara wrote her name herself on all her cards and Fiona put a heart sticker on all hers. On Valentines Day she cried and cried when she figured out she was still going to school and not to Valentines but I think the day redeemed itself as they also had a party in her classroom and she came home with a bag full of cards and treats.

We had a nice relaxing Presidents Day weekend. Saturday was catch up day for household chores and running errands. Fiona got to go to the store and pick out her own "princess dress". Ciara has a Cinderella princess dress which Fiona has gotten to love lately and she puts it on everyday when she comes home from daycare, along with her 'special pretty shoes' and she is very proud of how she looks. She has being doing very good on the potty, no more diapers during the day so she got to get her own dress. Some how Ciara has managed to still persuade Fiona to wear the "Cinderella " dress and she parades around in the new one the "Aurora" dress.
On Sunday Ciara, Fiona and I went to the Oakland zoo, they have a great childrens section there, we had a really nice time, we went on the sky ride at the end. Ciara has wanted to go on that one for a long time but we always said no, for some reason I always thought there was a height restriction but there isn't. It is like a ski lift ride but it goes up over some of the animal enclosures, Fiona and Ciara thought it was great, I have to admit I was a bit nervous at times, then we went on the train that goes all around the zoo, that is Fiona'a favourite. We topped the day off with trip out for ice cream. The girls had gotten money from their grandparents for Valentines day with instructions to go for ice cream so they made sure we didn't forget about that.

Our baby turns 1

Tara turned one year old on Jan 28, we can hardly believe a whole year has gone by already and our little baby is a baby no more. She is walking all over, can climb up and down the stairs faster than you can blink your eye. She only crawls if she needs to get somewhere really fast, like snag a toy from one of her sisters. She is finally sleeping through the night so we are really starting to feel like we are leaving the baby stage behind.
We had a little party on Sunday, her Uncle John came from Austin for the weekend to celebrate with her. I think her sisters were way more excited about her Birthday than Tara was and went to store to get balloons and Elmo paper plates and napkins for her party and they bought her some little presents which they told her she had to share, but it was all good fun. Tara did burn her finger on the candle, while we all stood around and watched her do it so I hope we have not instilled a fear of birthday cakes in her for the rest of her life.
On her actual birthday we had planned on going out to a restaurant. Ron and I felt we deserved to celebrate surviving our first year of 3 kids with our sanity still intact, or so we like to believe, but Ciara had some sort of a stomach bug and was not really up to it, so maybe we will try to get out next weekend.

Some Late Christmas Pics

I now have the pics that Dan and my mom took at Christmas. I figured I would post them now since we didn't really take any. I know it's late but enjoy anyway.

Ron

Sunday Late Post (Pics and a Video)

Had great weather today in Emeryville. Fiona is still nursing a bad cough and we are all kinda taking it easy. My buddy Phil Tiffin and his son Jack dropped by for a play date with Ciara. After some Bouncer fun we headed down to the park. Below are some pics and video. I think I have the video turnaround down pretty quick and now I'm inspired again to start taking some shots. Anyway enjoy the pics and Video.
Ron

Some Pics from Our Train Trip to San Jose

Here are a few pics from our ride on Amtrak down to San Jose. It was really a cool way to go. The train was nice. We all had table seats so we passed the time visiting. Sure beats driving. Also some recent pics of Tara.
Enjoy
Ron

Video of Tara's First Steps

Okay so I am attempting to put up a video of Tara taking a couple of Steps. She is just begining to get the hang of it and should be an expert in no time. Hopefully this will work.
Enjoy
r

Lazy Sunday

I added a few things to the great Blog that Marie set up. First there are links to favorite websites and other family blogs. Also there is a slide show window showing some of our recent pics. I set up a Picasa web album that we will be updating photos to so you should go there to check out new pics. Also check out Jason and Angela Gerstenberger's blog site. It is really cool and the goal for me....I want to get videos up next.


Today we are just sitting around and watching TV. Rain is not bad (actually there has been none) but it's cold and gray and a good day to relax and do nothing but sit around and play on the computer. The back yard is a mess from the wind and rains that blew thru here the last couple of days....I am putting off getting out there and cleaning it up. Anyway enjoy this new way we hope to communicate with everyone. Go ahead and leave some comments. We'll get an e-mail letting us know you posted something. We are looking forward to this.


Ron


P.S. Here is a pic I took today of the Aloe flowers outside.