Happy Birthday to Me!!

My (Sharyn) birthday was next in June. We celebrated by going out to dinner at California Pizza Kitchen- one of my favorite restaurants. I wish there was one closer to us. And then we headed home for cake and ice cream. I love my birthday for the simple fact that I can eat all the cake I want... because it is MY birthday and MY birthday cake!!! LET ME EAT CAKE!! Although, I will share with you if you ask nicely!!

Jacob turns 5!!

The first part of June brought Jacob's 5th birthday and he was so excited. He got to have his first birthday party. In an effort to keep it simple and cheap, we took the kids swimming at our neighborhood pool. It turned out to be a nice, hot and sunny day. The kids had a blast. During one of the breaks at the pool, the kids sang Happy Birthday to Jacob and had cupcakes. Then we headed back to the house where they took turns hitting a pinata. Check out the pictures below....

Here are the kids at the pool after they at cupcakes.

Maya loved her cupcake

Here is Jacob taking a swing at the pinata.

And here are the boys waiting for their turn to hit the pinata.

And the best part of the pinata is scrambling for the treats after it breaks!

From my Baby Boy to my 5 year old boy....

For Jacob's birthday we had a family party and then later got to have a friend party. It is amazing how fast the time flies by. I remember when Jacob was born, I was so surprised he was a boy because David had me convinced it was a girl!! I remember asking if they were sure it really was a boy- I guess I needed to see the proof for myself. And then we had to come up with a name for him, since we only had girl names picked out. But I remember feeling so excited to have a little boy. He was such a great baby, so easy going and happy. He made us laugh all the time as he grew into a toddler. He was always up to something and his antics cracked us up. He was fearless and curious and busy and we were sure that he would bring us our first trip to the ER. Fortunately, he did not!!

And now he is a big 5 year old and will be going to Kindergarten this fall. He has survived 21 months as a diabetic. And he loves his sisters, most of the time.

Jacob loves pizza and that was what he wanted for his birthday dinner. I love an easy meal!!

His favorite color is red and he wanted red frosting, but this was the best we could do with what we had. And he decorated it himself.

Spring Break at Niagara Falls

For Spring Break this year, David took a couple of days off and we headed north to Niagara Falls. We found a hotel on the Canadian side that was right next to the Falls and had a water park attached to it!! We had a great time and the kids loved the indoor water park. We saw the falls, went to the water park, took a ride on the Sky Wheel at night, ate at the Rain Forest Cafe and just had a good time. We had wanted to take a ride on the Maid of the Mist, a boat that takes you right up next to the Falls, but they hadn't opened for the season yet. Instead, we did the Cave of the Winds. We got to go down to the base of the American Falls.

This was the view from our hotel window. You can see the American Falls.

Both Katelyn and Jacob loved the slides at the water park.

Maya wasn't too happy to be in the water.......

Maya preferred to just sit and watch!!
And just because I know everyone is dying for more pictures, I've included the slide show below!! Enjoy.

Piano Lessons

As I have mentioned before, Katelyn is taking piano lessons from a Sister in our ward. Jacob and Maya get to go to piano lessons too, since they are in the afternoon after school. At the end of some of the lessons, Katelyn and her teacher sit down on the floor and do some theory. Well, after a few times of seeing this, Jacob and Maya decided they needed to do theory too. So, now everytime the teacher sits on the floor to work on theory, Jacob and Maya go right over and sit down too. They do some clapping of rhythms and some games to learn notes. Jacob and Maya both clap along and Jacob insists on playing the games too. Her piano teacher is so nice and always includes them both and even lets Jacob take turns learning the notes and rhythms. I almost feel badly, because we are paying for one child to take lessons and yet Jacob and Maya are learning too. Below is a picture I took of them all sitting on the floor doing theory at piano lessons a couple of weeks ago.

And here is Maya just being goofy during piano lessons.

Slow or Fast

The other evening at dinnertime, I told Jacob he needed to eat fast so we could go to the store after dinner, but be back in time for bedtime. Jacob is a notoriously slow eater and so I was trying to encourage him to eat dinner faster. He told me that he couldn't eat faster. And I replied that he had to so we could go to the store. And then he said to me, "Mom, slow is as fast as I can go!" I just started laughing out loud at him.

Katelyn's Tea Party

Katelyn had been bugging me for about a month to invite her friends over for a Tea Party. She has a little tea set that Grandma Bertasso got for her from Singapore and she really wanted to use it. I didn't really want to do it because I don't know how to throw a tea party, but I finally relented and she was so excited. She picked the date and time all by herself. Then she made her own invititations to give to her friends. I have to admit it was hard for me to let her give out the invitations she made since I am sucha perfectionist. But I am proud to say that I did and she was so proud of them. She got out her tea set and had me take a picture of it, which we then printed out and she put the picture on the front of the invitations (which were made with lined college rule paper!!). She wrote on the invitations that the party started at 12:30 and ended at 1:40!! I have no idea how she came up with those times. She even invited Jacob so he wouldn't feel left out. She really does have such a kind heart.

She spent the next week planning the Tea Party. She spent all week writing books for each of her friends that were coming. She made up the story and wrote the book and illustrated them too. It was so cute!! Then the night before, on Friday, she made some decorations that she taped on the front door and the front windows. She also made place cards that they could decorate and put on the table at each girl's place.

If you look closely, the words say "H-day" for Happy Day and "t-party" for Tea Party.

And here on the windows she drew balloons and streamers.

She told me that she wanted to serve jam sandwiches and ham sandwiches and instead of real tea, we should serve lemonade. I also decided to have some Mini Vanilla Wafers mini chocolate chip muffines and some grapes. Plus I cut the sandwiches into shapes with cookie cutters. All in all, I thought the party turned out really cute. And Katelyn had a ball. She was a great hostess and I am glad now that I let her have a Tea Party!!

Way To Go Katelyn!!

Katelyn started taking piano lessons last fall and on Saturday, March 7 she performed in our local Music Festival. She learned 2 pieces of music and then played them for 2 judges, who then rated her performance. It was her first time and she did so great!! She received a Unanimous Superior, which is the highest rating. Each year she performs, she will earn points towards trophies. We are so proud of her and this accomplishment. Way to go Katelyn!!!

Here she is in the Practice Room before she went into the judges room.

Here she is with the certificate she received.

This a video of Katelyn playing her Music Festival pieces on the piano at home.

Mother's Tea at Preschool

Just before Valentine's Day, Jacob's preschool had a "Mother's Tea" for all the mom's and the kids. The day before, the kids made muffins for it and special placemats. Before the tea, the kids did a little play and sang a song they learned called, "I Love You a Bushel and a Peck." Jacob was asked to play a part in the play, but he absolutely refused!! So, we watched it together while he sat on my lap.

Then we sat at our tables to eat. The kids served us the muffins and asked us what we wanted to drink (coffee, tea or juice) and then went and got it for us. They were really very cute. The kids even cleaned up afterwards! My favorite thing was what Jacob said was special about me. The teachers asked the kids and then wrote what they said on the placemats. Jacob said, "My mom likes stuff that I don't like. She likes cheese almonds; those are not my favorite. I like when Mom stays downstairs with me." When I asked him what "cheese almonds" were, he didn't have an answer for me!!

Long Overdue Update

I know it has been a long time since we posted anything. So I will try to give an update about the last month or so. We didn't take a lot of pictures, but I will share what we have with you.

The month of January was very snowy and cold. We had 2 days of school cancelled due to weather and then 2 holidays when there was no school. So, it felt like they were hardly in school. I think we got about 40 inches of snow in January and the kids loved it. They played outside when it was above 20 degrees.

One of the days that school was cancelled, the kids wanted to have a picnic in the family room. Here they are enjoying their homemade "Lunchables"


Here are the kids playing in the snow after one of the storms. I think this was also a day when school was cancelled. The snow was so deep they had a hard time walking in it.


Here is the view from out our front door. Notice how hight the snow is on our gas lamp in the front yard!!



On another day of no school the kids decided to play "tiger." They decided they wanted to really look like tigers, so they made their own costumes. I think they ended up taping the whiskers onto their faces!



And here is the large box that they turned into their African background for playing tiger. Katelyn made a sun, mountains, and a cloud to decorate it.

On another day of no school, the kids decided to play barbershop and of course, Maya and I were the customers.

And then for the Super Bowl, David decided to make Pittsburgh Steeler cupcakes. The cupcakes have gold cake and then he decorated the top with the Steelers logo. They turned out great and tasted even better.

She Did It!! She Did It!!

We are pleased to announce that Maya Marnae Bertasso can officially walk!! At the age of 17 months and 3 weeks old she finally decided to walk!! Below is a video as proof. Congratulations Maya!!!!!

Polar Express Train

We invited another family over to decorate our Polar Express Train that we do every year as part of our Christmas tradition. We read the book and then decorate our train. Here are the results......

Katelyn Goes to the ER

On Monday evening (December 22) I was making dinner when Katelyn headed into the living room for some reason unknown to me. A few seconds later, I heard a loud crash and then silence, so I figured she was fine since there was no crying. I then asked what had happened and received no response. So, I headed in to investigate when she came toward the kitchen holding her head and crying. She said something fell on her and I noticed blood on her hair. I had her sit down so I could determine how bad it really was. And when she heard there was blood, the tears really started and she was getting panicky. I got the bleeding stopped mostly and saw that she had a cut about 1 inch long just back from her hairline above her forehead. Then I discovered another puncture on the side of her head that was also bleeding. I called David, who was on his way home from work, and we decided that I would wait until he got there to head to the ER. Long story short, we went to the ER and they were able to glue the cut back together. She was very relieved she didn't have to have stitches.

I had to laugh at her in the car on the way to the ER, she asked me what they have to do if you lose all of your blood. She was worried that she was going to lose all of her blood because the cut was bleeding so much!!! She was very brave at the ER and didn't even cry when they were washing it and gluing it. My only complaint was that they were soooooooo slow. We got there at 6:40 pm and didn't leave until 9:10pm. And now we are waiting to wash her hair because you can't get the cut wet for about 4 days. Below is a couple of pics of the damage.

Pictures with Santa

We had the kids pictures taken with Santa for the first time and they turned out pretty cute. My friend did it and hired her own santa, so we didn't have to wait in line at the mall. Katelyn and Jacob had a good time and Maya wanted nothing to do with Santa, as you can see from the pictures!!

First Piano Recital

Katelyn began taking piano lessons over the summer and then we stopped when school started and just recently started her again. And Saturday she played in her first piano recital. She did a great job and I think I was more nervous than she was!! She played two duets with me (Sharyn). They were Jolly Old St. Nicholas and Over the River and Through the Woods. Below are some pictures. The light was really bright from the window behind the piano, so the pictures are not that great. I am going to try and get a recording of her playing the same songs here at home, so you can hear how she sounds.

Kids Say the Darnedest Things.....

So, tonight while decorating the Christmas tree with the kids, Katelyn said something to me that is a sad milestone for me as a parent. As I handed each of them an ornament, I would tell them if it was one of theirs or one of mine from when I was a kid. As I gave Katelyn an ornament, I told her it was one from when I was a kids and she said to me, "Mom, does mean that you were a kid in the olden days when they didn't have cars?" I couldn't help but laugh. And then I told her that no I was not THAT old. But apparently I have reached the age where my children believe I am really old. Funny thing too, because I remember asking my own parents something similar and truly being surprised they had cars when they were young!! I am also surprised that Katelyn even knows what the "olden days" are and that they didn't have cars in the olden days. Oh, to be young again. Wait, I am still young, no matter what my kids think!

New Pictures of the Kids

In October, I also had pictures taken of Katelyn and Jacob and of the three of them together. If anyone wants one of these, just let me know.

Maya's One Year Pictures

In September, I finally had Maya's pictures taken. But it took me forever to pick which ones to buy. Hence, the posting of her 1 year old pictures, 4 months after she turned 1!! So, for grandma's and grandpa's and aunts and uncles and anyone else who wants one of the pictures, just email me and let me know which one(s) you would like a copy of. Enjoy the show!!

Dancing Queen

For David's birthday, Jacob got him an American Greetings technology card. That means that it plays a song!! And the kids have loved listening to the card. Maya especially liked it and even started dancing. So, without further ado, here is Maya dancing and waving good bye. Hope you enjoy it. We think it is the cutest, of course.

Oh, the weather outside....

We had our first major snowfall of the season over this past weekend and the kids were thrilled, to put it mildly. So, on Tuesday, I let them go outside and play in the snow. They played for an hour and a half on Tuesday and again on Wednesday for 45 minutes. They just love the snow and I am always amazed they can stay out there for so long.

Our neighbor came over to play with the kids.

The kids love to go down the slide in the snow.
This was right before Jacob came into the house because he was actually cold. He does look a little miserable!!