It's been a long, long time

Lots has happened. I don't think I'll play catch up, but start from here. Isn't that how life should work.

Its beautiful in California

This is perfect weather for me. High in the mid 60's, sunny but still chilly enough for a sweatshrit. I love sweatshirts. I can cover up all the winter fat!
Today I worked in Alex's kindergarten class. I try and go in every week and it's only worked out for every other week. Alex LOVES when I'm there. He comes up and gives me kisses and hugs the whole time. His class rotates between 4 tables, so he was only with me once. I had a couple of interesting conversations - I asked one young man to get a Kleenex because his nose was dripping, which sparked the topic of boogers, which I explained are really called mucas and that mucas has germs that our body is trying to get rid of, so that's why you need to blow your nose, and not suck it up. And one girl pointed out that's it's not a good idea to pick your nose because you will get germs in your nose. On another rotation, one girl had a VERY loose tooth, so we talked about what would happen if you swalloed your tooth? I said that the tooth fairy would still bring you money and that you would just poop the tooth out. The girls thought that was funny!
I sat in on Samantha's piano lesson this week. I haven't really listed to her since her first lesson and I was very impressed with the knowledge that she has already gained. She wants to take drum lessons after her 2 years of piano are up. I told her Daddy can teach her that. We will defeniatly need a bigger house just for the drum set!

Pictures of the kids

These are Alex and Samantha's school pictures as well as some pictures I took on Halloween morning.

Trick-or-treat

The kids had a spooktacular Halloween this year and managed to gather 6 lbs. of candy each. We first headed to our downtown district of Turlock were most of the business hand out candy. If they are participating, they tape an orange paper in their window. This is my favorite part of the day because I can window shop and find new store downtown. I found one little handmade country store were I bought a bar of homemade almond oatmeal soup and put on my mental list a set of hand sewn placemats with matching napkins. I also came across a children's consignment store and I think I'll knit a couple of hats to sell there. Since Grandpa Ron has his apartment on Main Street above the storefronts, we were able to get treats at his house. 2 bowls of goodies waited for the kids along with a nice place to make a potty stop and rest from walking. His place is slowly coming together and is perfect for him.
Later that evening, Grandpa Ron took the kids in our neighborhood and I was surprised at how long they stayed out. I want to say it was close to 2 hours. When they returned, Ron claimed they walked all the way to Modesto (about 15 min. away from us). Overall, it was a fun Halloween, with way too much candy, and I've already eaten my share of it.

Samantha's 1st Horse Show

Samantha had her horse show this last Saturday in Galt. Neil and Grandpa Ron when to watch our girl. Samantha has been taking horse lessons in Jackson curtosy of Horsey Grandma. She was so excited to have her first competition. She won 2 first place trophies and ribbons, a 3rd place ribbon, and a participant ribbon. And these are gorgeous ribbons. They remind me of best of show ribbons from our county fair. For future lessons, Samantha will be working off half of the cost by cleaning stalls and other chores for her insturctor. She is absolutly in love with horses and I am so thankful to my mom that she is able to provide her with the lessons.

Weekly updates

Neil is on a motorcycle trip with 2 of his fellow traffic officers. They origianlly had planned on going to Reno but due to the weather, they went to Las Vegas instead. So far he is having a great time. Yesterday they took a trip to Hoover Dam and Neil called home from the very top. He also spit to see what it would look like! He will be headed home tomorrow evening.

Samantha has started piano lessons and is going on her third lesson. She has picked it up rather quickly and loves it. I brings me back to my own piano lesson days and how much I hated to practice! My grandma told me I would regret quiting some day. So, no matter what, Samantha will take piano for at least 2 years. After that, she can pick a different instrument if she wishes.

Alex is excelling in kindergarten and it's remarkable to see how quickly he learns. He is still in soceer, although we have missed 3 games so far (out of town, sick, and raining).

We went to out friend Nathan Wallen's 2nd birthday yesterday. The theme was balls so I made him his own football cake. I was privledged to make his 1st birthday cake as well which was a horse's head. He was having a bit of a hard time with all the people and it was his nap time.

I have my application in for a part-time job at 2 different places. One is for a teachers aide at a nursery school and the other is to be a caregiver here in Turlock. Both would be flexable and work around the kids schedules. I'll keep you updated.

Neil's dad, Ron, moved to CA from Wisconsin this week. We are so happy to have part of Neil's family here. He has offered to help with the kids while I'm working. Alex adores his Grandpa Ron and wants him to live forever in our house. Ron is looking for something close by. He is used to the bachlor life for the last 15+ years.

Samantha's Days in 4th Grade

Samantha has been thriving and excelling in her new GATE class. She has been attending for almost 1 month now and loves it. She actually has less homework than she had last year because she finishes it in class. She does spend 10 mins a day studying her spelling words (a list of 25-30 per week) and 10 mins. on vocubulary words. She also has to read for 20 mins. every evening and complete a book report at the end of each month. She is very happy at her new school and hasn't complained about missing her "old" friends at all.
Lyndee has been at our house less and less - just on Thursdays for gymnastics. This seems to put alot less stress on the entire family, especially Samantha. They pretty much do nothing but argue.
Samantha started horse riding lessons last weekend - a treat from Horsey Grandma. She has 2 lessons in one weekend. She is learning English style riding and has received many compliments from her instructor saying that she is extremely talented.
I'm hoping to purchase a keyboard from Costco this weekend. They have one for a little under $100 - we have a rebate check for $62 - and I want to start lessons for Samantha and myself. I think Alex will enjoy playing as well. My children love to sing and are always singing up a storm in the car on the way to and from school.

Samantha's 1st Day of 4th Grade

Samantha started her first day of 4th Grade on Aug. 5th. She is now a Mustang and Julien Elementary and enjoying the change of school. She shares her GATE class with 29 other students, 10 being girls. She will have the same group of kids in her class for the next 3 years, so I told her she better be nice to everyone. Mrs. Morgan is a wonderful teacher and will definitely challenge her mind. Her daily homework entails reading for 20 mins, studying her spelling list of 30 words and vocabulary list for 10 mins. each. She also has to bring home any in class work she didn't finish, but so far she hasn't brought anything home.

Home from Camp

(Waiting with friends before taking off to camp)

Samantha came home from camp on Saturday afternoon(by the way, I didn't have to drive all the way to Hume to pick her up) looking a little older and tanner to me. They swim everyday while they are there (one of her favorite things to do). She had such a wonderful time and talked non stop about it the rest of the day. Sunday was spent catching up on her homework and she still didn't get the weeks work done. She'll need an extention of one more day to finish it.

Neil had a nice fathers day. He had bought his own present the weekend before - a new 40" TV. I finally gave in after a long year of his research and constant talking of the "new TV". Best Buy had a special of 3 years no interest so I said lets do it. I cooked a yummy breakfast of sausage and waffles, we watched reruns of Top Chef, he mowed the lawns then packed for his week-long school in Sacramento. I really don't like it when he's gone! But we don't have a choice and these classes help his career.

Weeks Happenings

More and more I find I have less and less time to post on here. So I'll combine the week.

- My youngest sister Geena moved to Turlock last week and is renting a room in a house with a bunch of Christian girls. She'll be attending CSU in the fall and she plans on being here for about 4 years. We've been hanging out, going on walks at night with the kids on their bikes. We also both share a love of bargain shopping so we hit the Goodwill one day. She found a dress that she loved but it didn't fit. We took it home along with another dressed and I altered the sides for her and made it her size. She took it with her on her trip to Spain were she will be for the next 3 weeks.

- Samantha left for camp and I miss her greatly. It's quite and lonely here, even when Lyndee is in the house. I've noticed there is no fights or yelling! I'll go to Hume Lake to pick her up on Saturday. Can't wait!

- I registered for 2 classes for the fall. Yes, I'm doing it again. I can't give up even though I wanted to after my last online course. I'll take these two on campus this time. Both are Child Develpment and I've decided to work towards a cert. in preschool education. A small goal to accomplish first, then I'll think about the big picture of earning a degree.

Samantha's embarassing story and she would DIE if she knew I blogged it!!

So pool season has officially started at our house. That means lots of time outside, lots of extra kids at the house and lots of quiet for me!! Last week Samantha came running into the house to use the bathroom. I was in the garage with the laundry and when I came in I saw little wet footprint on the floor and Sam moaning and groaning in the bathroom, "Mom, I need you". I thought she might need a roll of toilet paper so I opened the door and in her most desperately ill voice said, "I have diarrhea." Are you sick I asked. Then the story unfolded like this: I was swimming in the pool and the jet was on and I was pushing off and letting the jet give me a boost and the water shot up my butt!!! (This story was told while she was sitting on the toilet) I told her she gave herself an enema. And then the look of devastation crept on her face because she has a deeply embedded memory of Neil and I giving her an enema when she was 4 on our bathroom floor the the horror she experienced. I told her the diarrhea would go away and she could go back into the pool. Oh yeah! This is one good story we can use against her for the rest of her life.


(Something like this!! (I don't know this kid, just liked the pic)

Weeks Happenings

This week at the Cervenka household:

I went with Alex's preschool to visit a vet's office. What a fun day! They had stations set up so the kids could rotate between them - a stuffed animal operation, a sonogram of their hearts, a bug display, and a xray room. Some of the kids had lots of questions.

Alex learned to ride his bike without training wheels. And he is a pro at it now. (the kids not even 5 yet). He also started taking showers instead of baths.

Samantha and Alex went to the dentist and no cavities to be seen. Yeah!!

I worked on some "recycling" projects. I turned 2 pairs of jeans into this

It's a bowl for newborn pictures. I have it listed on Etsy.

Science project

Samantha has been working on a science project for school for the last week. The title is "The Dog and the Shoebox". The questions was how long does it take Bailey, one of our dogs, to get the treat out of the box. I was really proud of her because this was her first science project and she did all of the work on her own - no parental help. Lyndee also turned one in. Here is a picture of Sam and her 3rd grade teacher, Mr. Costa.

Happy 9th Birthday Samantha

Samantha turned 9 on March 31st, but we just has her party last Sunday. She is off track the month of March so it's always a good idea to wait until April for the festivities. And luckily, we had beautiful swimming weather on Sunday. It was 93 and I was sweat'n just sitting outside watching those girls swim. It was the easiest party we've ever done - swimming, a help yourself snack table, cake, presents, then more swimming. It was only 2.5 hours long (Rachelle's #1 party rule). Neil and I decided that the kids will only get a party every other year. In between they can have 2 friends go to ice cream with them on their special day. It's just way to expensive and too much spoiling for them every year.

Neil really hates this bikini on Samantha. She can't wear it if boys are around but as you can see, all of her friends wear 2 piece suits.

Easter Pictures

Neil took these pictures on Easter morning and no matter how much he tried, he couldn't get Alex to smile "normal".



We went to Robert and Melissa's house in Livermore (my cousin, Bev's son). They have a beautiful new condo. Melissa had Easter baskets for the kids and we had honey baked ham and turkey and yummy carrots that were made with ginger ale and lots of butter.

Motorcycle Divas

Last Friday Neil took Samantha and Lyndee on their first ever motorcycle ride. Samantha has recently shown interest in taking a ride with her Daddy which got the ball rolling for him to order her a pink helmet. He wanted to get her a beautiful pink leather jackie for her birthday (March 31st) but I wouldn't let him. Can you tell he is THRILLED that she has shown interest!! The ride lasted for 30min. for each of them and when they returned there was a perma-grin on their face.

Samantha and the Blueman Group

Samantha was able to go see the Blueman Group in concert on the 20th in San Jose. she was invited to go with Hannah D. and her mom Elise. So the 3 of them ventured out of our small town and headed to the big city. Before the show they had dinner at Macaroni Grill. Now Samantha is a connoisseur of pasta and she said it was one of the best places she has eaten at. We don't have one close by so she won't have it again for a while. Samantha loves to watch the Food Network and has informed me she wants to be a chef. She asked today if they have a GATE program in Culinary School! Needless to say, she had a great girl's night out and really enjoyed herself at the concert.

Recap of Weekly Events

I thought I would recap the events for the week to keep all of our family and friends informed.

- Samantha had one of her baby molers removed. It was hollow and dead and started giving her pain. She was a trooper with the Noviacane shots and went back to school after a short nap and lunch.

- Samantha went to a play, Straw into Gold, at University Stanislaus, with her class on Thurs.

- Alex had Pajama Day at school. I was really glad it wasn't my day to work in his class. The excitement level was exceptionally high that day.

- Neil went on a motorcycle ride with 2 friends. They toured down to the Santa Cruz mountains.

- I completed a couple of knitting and craft projects.

- I went over to Rachelle's house for dinner with our book club then to a movie. We saw Juno (I ate 2 candy bars...thanks Rachelle!) and laughed our buns off.

- Neil and I went on a date Sat. eveing and saw the movie I am Legend. Really awesome movie.

Dance Party USA!!

The kids love to put on performances for Neil and I. Now that Lyndee is part of the family, she brings her innate ability to dance, flip and sing. Samantha has long been a fan of creative play, opting for it over toys. Alex loves to get in there too and he can almost do a perfect handstand. Lately the music has come from High School Musical 2 and I know almost all of the words to the songs. This particular evening brought Neil and I a great laugh do to the costumes!

GATE Program will have a new student

I hadn't received a letter in the mail yet for Samantha's results of the GATE test she took, so I called the district office yesterday. Samantha qualified for the program, and finished in the 99 percentile. So we will have first pick of which school we would like to attend. Turlock has 2 campuses that house the GATE program, Julien and Cunningham. We will pick Julien because of the location and because our friend Rachelle knows all the teachers there. Sam will start 4th grade and continue through 5th and 6th.
I told Samantha when she got home from school today and she was so excited she started to cry! She's looking forward to the challenge of the program and meeting new friends. We'll find out more details when we attend the orientation meeting in a few weeks.