A new ‘Do

Meagan decided it was time for something new…

She lopped off about 8 inches of hair last week. (Ok, she didn’t, Laurie our stylist did…) I can’t believe how much older she looks now! Daddy loves how easy it is to brush, big time saver

Catch-up Time!

Here are some fun pictures from the last few weeks.

We’ve had lots of birthday fun- Meagan turned 5 on the 30th. She had extra celebrating with family and friends this year. She invited kids from her class to Galaxy Gymnastics where they bounced and tumbled all over the place.

Then there was Halloween. Meagan had a ball trick-or-treating as Jessie the Cowgirl. Tony decided this year to sit out trick-or-treating and stayed home with me to hand out candy instead. The weather was unusually warm so we set up chairs on the front lawn and watch everyone come and go. The neighbors followed suit and it was like an impromptu block-party/parade. Here’s a few pictures of the carving of the Jack o’ Lanterns…yes that is a watermelon you are looking at. Turns out they actually work pretty well for carving. This was one that got missed in the garden this summer.

And now that soccer is finished, Tony has had some time to get creative. He made this out of a fence board, almost completely by himself. He had a little help holding pieces together while he nailed them. He used a box saw to cut out the pieces by himself.

So, there you have it. We’re back, just in time for the Holidays!

More testing…

		October fun VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Time to try out some new software. I’m hoping this will make posting a bit easier. These few photos are from our Fall Festival at the Ranch (same one we have Easter at each year), the pumpkin patch, Meagan in her Halloween costume- she was Jessie the Cowgirl from Toy Story, and Meagan at her birthday party.

Yes, I'm still here....

I am in recovery mode: we just survived the Fall Carnival at school, Meagan's family birthday party, Tony's last soccer game and trophy party, a halloween party, Meagan's friend party and Birthday day, and of course, Halloween. This all took place over the course of 4 days, so bear with me while I catch my breath. I'm hoping to get pictures up soon. I am also waiting for my new computer to arrive, which should make posting a little less painless. See you soon!!

Pumpkin Patch 2011

It's that time again! Off to the patch with the Prices....


Another great trip. Tony and Mikayla thought they needed, absolutely had to have, the BIGGEST pumpkins they could find. It was all they could talk about at dinner Friday night. Once we hit the field, we shrugged and said sure- pick 'em out, but YOU have to carry them back to the carts and put them into the cars. They made it about 10 feet with their massive orbs and then decided to pick out somewhat smaller ones. After the pumpkins made it safely into the back of the cars, we turned them loose in the corn maze and petting zoo, painted their faces and filled them full of kettle corn and lemonade. All in all, it was a great day in the country.

Soccer, Triathalon and more...

So it's been a busy 6 weeks or so since I last posted. The kids started school. Both are playing soccer. Tom is coaching Meagan's team. She is on the Butterflies this time. Tony stepped up to a new league this season with bigger fields and goals, more players on the field, and new rules (offsides actually counts now). It took a little getting used to but he and his team are finally getting into the grove.


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Ankle-biters, ball magnets, and here she is with a break-away...



The throw-in...

I started a new job- I am a literacy aide at Parsons Junior High. I'm there 5 mornings a week working with 6th, 7th, and 8th graders. I'm also getting ready to start a second job teaching a 6th grade girl who has a compromised immune system and can't go to regular school. I will be working with her at home 3 days a week helping her keep up with her classmates.

We decided the backyard needs a bit of tweeking, so Tom ripped out the patio so we can enlarge it. We're having a new patio cover put in tomorrow morning, I'll post pictures of that soon.

Meagan competed in her second triathalon last month. I forgot my camera, so I don't have pictures of the first one. For her the first one was more of a biathalon, since she decided to skip the swimming part, but the second time around she was all over the swimming. For her age group, the 5-8 year olds, (we fudged it a little so she could compete. She doesn't turn 5 till the end of the month) they have to swim 50 meters, hop on their bikes and ride 3/4 of a mile, then run a 1/4 mile. She loved it! Tony took more of a watch-and-see approach to it and is mulling over participating next time.

Amazing Girl!!

First Day of School 2011

Yup, it's time already!! Yesterday was the big day... 

Both kids are off to school!! Tony is starting 3rd grade with Mrs. Pfeiffer. Meagan is in Mrs. Kikut's kindergarten class, just like Tony was not so long ago....

Meagan was so ready for the day to start, she didn't even wait to say good-bye. We got separated in the swarm of parents at the door; Tom and I were stuck outside and she just kept on going. She walked right in, picked up her name tag, sat down and started coloring. Her first words as I picked her up that afternoon were, "It was AWESOME!!" with her arms raised as if in victory. She has been waiting for this day for quite a while now...

And, in what I am sure will become a tradition, we enjoyed a plate of "Back-to-School Brownies" once we got home. I love this time of year!!

Time for a new faucet...

 One of the joys(?) of owning an older house like ours (it was built in the early 1940's) is that there is always something that needs to be fixed. This time it was the faucet. Something clogged deep within its recesses reducing the water flow to a mere drip, literally. Tom tried everything in the book, but this was unfixable by even the most crafty of handymen. Off to Home Depot I went and after a couple of tries, finally came back with something that will fit under our window sill and still allow for the tap to open.

While waiting, somewhat impatiently, for the weekend when Tom had time to tackle this little project, I made the mistake of opening up the instructions. They made it look so easy! 10 steps, 8 if you decided not to use an accessory. Feeling rather brave, I asked Tom to turn over the wrenches so I could give it a try. And honestly, it wasn't so bad. It actually took longer to get the old faucet out than install the new one.

Here I am removing the old....

Here's the new. Not bad if I say so myself....

Tony tries tubing....

Bailey looks on nervously while her owner gives his nephew a pep talk...

Ok, well it wasn't exactly a tube, but it makes the title sound better. Last week while we were at the lake for some swimming and birthday fun, he mentioned that he might like to try tubing and wanted to know if Papa could pull him with his boat. While we were up for the weekend he asked again and Papa dug out the "Penguin Hot Shot"(where do they come up with names like that??) some rope, found him a life jacket and away they went. Uncle Frank was kind enough to hop on with him for his first ride. I know you can't really tell by the white-knuckle death grip he has on the handle, but he really did have fun and wants to go again...

aahh...the beach

We're back from our mini-vacation to the coast. We spent 4 days camping in Trinidad, exploring the giant redwoods, bonfires on the beach, hiking through Fern Canyon, hunting for agates, and soaking up the cool ocean air. We had lots of fun and we're more than a little sad to be back- this was our last big trip for the summer as school starts in 2 weeks.

Hello again!

Wow, what I thought would be just a brief hiatus turned into bit more than that...hmmm, where to start. So, obviously school is out and summer is just about gone. We have 3 weeks until school starts up again. Tony will be starting 3rd grade and Meagan will be a Kindergartener. Yikes! How did that happen??

Anyways, in a not-so-brief recap, here's what we've been up to for the last 6 months:
I finished my "back-to-school" project and am now a fully credentialed teacher. I'm in the process of applying and interviewing for teaching positions, but the outlook is not good (I knew this going in) for this year. I have several teachers that have requested me for a substitute, so that will keep me busy and pay the student loans.

Tom turned 40(!) in March, and in honor of this milestone Tom wanted nothing more than to visit the friends we always say we need to see, but somehow time slips by and before you know it, it's been 10 years since we've seen them. You know the story, I'm sure. As such, we embarked on the "Tour de Friend" with stops in San Francisco (a first for the kids) and surrounding Bay Area, San Luis Obispo, Fresno, and capped it off with a couple of days in Yosemite. Now, I can hear the peanut gallery rumbling (or is that grumbling?) "How come you didn't stop to see us??" There are a lot of you we didn't get to see on this trip. Not to worry, there will most likely be a second Tour de Friend next spring....

This spring I got to coach Meagan's first ever soccer team. What an experience! Let me tell you that it is way harder than it looks! I liken it to herding cats. It was fun, and Meagan can't wait for the fall season to start up next month. We got a big kick out of watching the Women's World Cup this year, especially since a Redding local, Megan Rapinoe, was playing for Team USA.

Meagan figured out how to ride a two-wheel bike this spring. This was a big deal for her and daddy, who still owes her a "big girl bike" but she's happy enough to ride on Tony's big blue until he finds the right one. There is no stopping her now, literally. She rides with Tom to the gym, all over the River Trail, and anywhere else she can.

School got out in June and we have been going non-stop ever since. The kids spent 2 weeks at "Camp Nana & Papa". They had so much fun they are already planning on new adventures for next summer's camp. We picked them up and camped in our new trailer on the other side of the lake for 10 days. Well, the kids and I camped the whole time. Tom had to come back down the hill and work in between. We stayed in the same campground I used to camp at as a kid, so it was a fun little stroll down memory lane for me. We had a perfect view of the fireworks on the Fourth.

Tony is learning to play golf. He picked up a few lessons while he was staying with Nana and Papa and he spent a week at golf camp here in town.

It was also Tony's 8th birthday recently. He had a big friend party this year at Oasis Fun Center. They got to play in the arcade, a round of mini-golf, laser tag, and bumper boats.

Tom rode in the Fall River Century last weekend. That's 100 miles, to those of us who aren't biking fanatics. He finished in 8.5 hours, including lunch and rest stops. While he was off riding, I took the kids and explored Burney Falls, the little towns of Burney, Fall River and McArthur. We also checked out a fish hatchery and ate ice cream while we waited for Tom to return. (I had guest photographers for this, I'll let you guess which shots they took...)

Anyways, thanks for making it this far in the post. Stay tuned as there will be more posts coming soon: Meagan's room is just about finished, our trip to the coast, and more....