Let's SWIM!

The kids started swim lessons this week at Floaties Swim School here in Poway. It's a new indoor, heated pool. The instructors are great and we love it! It comes highly recommended from a few school mates as well as some neighbors. I'm hoping we can get the kids swimming soon so they can have a lot more fun this summer at Grandpa's pool as well as others.

Rose and Mr. Mike

Joey and Miss Tracy

David and Miss Lori

(she has kids who go to Garden Road

Elementary School too)

Granny turns 97!

My Grandmother, Sally Holley, turned 97 on April 12, Easter Sunday. After Easter festivities at home, Rose, David and I went to visit her along with my Mom, Barbara Heffernan. Granny lives in an assisted living facility in Escondido. She has Alzheimers, so while she does know Mom, she no longer remembers who I am. When I visit her, I have to tell her all about my family. While this could be sad.....I like to think that she is always getting to meet new people!

Sally's given name is Sadie Levina Tryke. She was born on 4/12/1912 in Calumet, MI. From what I can deduce, she was a real firecracker when she was young. I have pictures of her in her youth. She was a real knockout. Beautiful blond with amazing blue eyes. She is a wonderful woman and I'm lucky to have her!

Happy Birthday Sally (Granny)!! Rose took this picture....a pretty good photo for a 5 year old!

The Easter Bunny Cometh.....

Easter snuck up on us this year. The kids didn't realize it was here until Easter Sunday. Even then, they didn't know until Rose got up (after the boys) and found the Easter baskets. Andy's cousin, Roz Langer (Aunt Roz), came to spend part of spring break with us. We were so busy with my nieces in town and Roz here that we didn't get around to coloring eggs until the day of Easter. We BBQ-ed for dinner and a good time was had by all!

Easter Baskets and the Candy Hangover

The Great Egg Hunt!

Coloring Eggs with Aunt Roz! This was the first time she colored eggs. I think she had a better time than the kids!

Spring Break Part Deux.....

Well, Mary and Laura have gone back to snowy, rainy, cold Issaquah, WA. We had a great time while they were here. We miss them! All the kids had so much fun playing together. Here are more highlights of their vacation.

Wild Animal Park: Madeline, Laura, Rosie, Joey & Mary in petting corral, 1 month old baby elephant, and Madeline, Laura & Mary with the elephants.

Grandpa (Bill Heffernan) with his grand kids: Joey, Laura & Madeline. Laura and Madeline LOVE this picture of Laura! She looks so much like her sis, Sally here.

Karen and I with all the kids at the mosaic garden in Kit Carson Park

Legoland!

Legoland!

Mary & Laura's rendition of Granna's (Barbara Heffernan) orange trees in her backyard. Laura at Chuck E. Cheese. You're never too old for fun and games!

Preschool Crushes

Ok, so the kids will probably kill me later (years) if they ever read this entry. But first they have to learn how to read! This year is Rose's second year of preschool and David's first. They both have the same teacher (Sue Martin) at Garden Road Elementary, but on different days. This means all 3 of my kids go to school every day to drop off or pick someone up. They spend a lot of time in both classes and with all the school mates in both classes. This year Rose developed a crush on a boy in David's class named Joey Zaretsky. It's very much mutual and has been going on pretty much since last fall. She talks about Joe all the time and wonders aloud why he loves her so much, and how he wants to marry her. From talking to his Mom, sounds like he talks about Rosie all the time at home too. It's easy to get Rose motivated to get to school on the days she will get to see and play with Joe.

Now David.... he has a girl who instantly fell for him this past fall. Her name is Emily Lawless and coincidentally, her grandparents live at the end of our street. We didn't know this until after her Mom and I were talking at the start of the school year. Emily looks forward to seeing David every day. She is always the first to say hello when we walk into class. I'd like to say he is smitten with her too, but he is a hard one to read. He does love to play with her and when she asks to hold his hand on the way to the parking lot, he usually obliges. How long will this all last? Who knows....but for now it's so fun to watch. Ah, young love!

Oh.... and both Joey Z and Emily have adorable little sisters. Perhaps we can get Joey Stitzer hooked up too!

Rose & Joe at the pumpkin patch, and with Kendal Knight at the Spring Party

David & Emily: Spring Party and sandbox fun with Joey

The Great Egg Hunt

This past week, the week before spring break, was "Spring Party" week at school. (I guess they aren't allowed to say Easter anymore) Rose did an egg hunt and party as did David. Joey was invited to participate in David's hunt. The eggs had their names on them, helping to enforce reading / recognizing their names. They all had a great time with the egg hunt as well as the party afterward. Hey, who doesn't love a party? Happy Easter! I mean Happy Spring?

Rose with her egg hunting bag

Rose and Gavin Jones

L-R Top; Kai Leah Kreigsman, Thomas White, Joey Zaretsky, Sue Martin (teacher) Jordyn Harris, David Stitzer, Emily Lawless

Front; Caitlin Knott, Ava Orton, Kayla & Kendal Knight, Sierra Covington, Kai Eren, Lucas Jones

David searching the bushes for eggs

Joey searching for his eggs

Spring Break Beach Fun!

Today was day 3 of Mary & Laura's spring break vacation visit. It was a warm one today, so we went to the beach. The temperature was probably 80 but the water was more like 62. That didn't stop L & M from getting right in without any hesitation. David and Rose got wet up to their waists, Joey and I could only stand getting our feet wet for about 5 seconds. It was fairly crowded, a far cry from January when we had the beach to ourselves. I just LOVE San Diego in winter when we have the place to ourselves. The kids all had a great time.

Mary & Laura, my twin nieces, age 9 1/2

Rose, David & Joey...could Joey be any skinnier or whiter? Laura looked at him with his shirt off and said, he's whiter than me, and he lives in California!

Sand Castle Fun

Laura & Joey having fun

The girls having no trouble with the cold water

Holy Fish Batman!

Well, we finally broke down and got some pets.... disposable fish. Please meet Princess (the black fish) and Obie (the orange & white fish). We got them last Wednesday while perusing the fine goods at Wal-Mart. Can you believe they still let me shop there? (See "I'm White Trash" post) Anyway, we have managed to keep them alive for 5 days now. WooHOO!

A Sweet Story

On Rosie's birthday, I put Joey down for a nap. I could hear him on the monitor jabbering away then I heard him start to sing. "Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday Dear Rosie, Happy Birthday to you!" It was one of the sweetest things I have ever heard. Just when I think I know how much I love my kids, they do something that makes my heart feel like it's swelling, almost painful. And that's my short, sweet story.

The Cousins are Here!

Hurray! It's spring break! 2 of my nieces, Mary and Laura Heffernan, are here to have fun with the cousins and spend some time in the sunshine. (It was snowing when they left the house to come here yesterday from Seattle.) We are so happy they came to visit. It will be a great week!

Joey, Laura, Rose and Mary ready for bed

Madeline, Mary and Joey cuddly-cuddly

David, Owen and Laura