Latest from the Momarazzi

Random spring events involving the kids

as captured on camera at every opportunity by mom

Jed skating down the driveway,

sporting a look for backwards day at school

Art Masters with the twins' class

(I get to come in and assist one mom in

helping the kids learn about

a certain artist/artistic style once a month or so)

This month: Asian Bamboo Brush Painting

Look for the finished results to be hanging in my home

Taking a quick look around the twins' classroom

at some recent assignment displays:

Printed power point presentations that the kids did on a chosen book.

Harriet's = Goose Girl by Shannon Hale

Jack = Inkheart by Cornelia Funk

(I was a bit surprised at how many kids did something from

the Twilight series, actually I was surprised how many boys

did something from the Twilight series...)

Biography and Subject Puppet Project

Harriet wrote about Theodore Geisel aka Dr. Seuss

and made her puppet of him holding

a plate of green eggs and ham

Thanks to Uncle Dave for making the glasses!

(I really liked the Neil Armstrong one just below hers!)

Jack's Jackie Robinson puppet and report

which he did all by himself with no help at all

(yes that is sort of a disclaimer)

Any time in any class when Jack has been assigned a biography

report he has done it on Jackie Robinson. This was maybe #3.

Field Trip to see The Jungle Book

performed at El Toro High School

I accompanied Henry's 2nd grade class to this cute

ETHS Drama Club production one morning -

we just walked the kids across the street

to see the performance at the High School next door

Start of day Pledge of Allegiance before we go

(Henry was the president today and lead the class)

Approaching El Toro High School

The show was very cute and the kids really enjoyed it

trumpeting elephants

Afterwards the actors came out and met the

kids and posed for photos - Jed's first grade class

was there also and I got some pictures of him

with some of the featured players like Sher Khan the Tiger

and the gorilla

walking back to class across the street

Mother's Day Dinner -

Porter made all of the moms at our family dinner

their own place holder mats - so sweet!

after dinner Grandpa and the boys served the

moms ice cream and french silk pie

Thank you Henry!

Lake Forest Ward Father and Son's Campout

Firestone Campground, Orange, CA

(all photos by dad (or, the "papa-razzi"), mom wasn't there!)

Activities included tent set-up & hiking,

campfire for weenie roast, s'mores, songs,

and burning strips of a retired American flag

and of course boxing

And what do the mothers and daughters do on these nights?

Go to the mall of course! Harriet and I went to

the Laguna Hills Mall and had dinner at the Elephant Bar,

shopped for graduation leggings, ate ice cream,

and took photos in the 3 minute photo booth!

We took the boys to David Foster's wedding reception which

was held in our ward cultural hall recently

(note his Ute-red tie stripes)

we used to take them to cheer him on at El Toro when he was in high school

(side note: David introduced Pete to his new wife as

"the best basketball player in the Lake Forest ward")

not too shabby yourself, David...

Henry's class recently did Animal Reports

accompanied by a diorama with the featured

animal in its natural habitat -

Henry's assigned animal was the:

(alligator has three baby alligators on its back,

but Henry told all his friends it was still the

"dad" alligator - didn't want it to be a girl!)

This past Saturday's pool party marked the

final occasion for Harriet and her soccer

team to be together. They had a fun

time and their coach passed out their medals -

It says "champion" on it but I'm not sure for what -

Harriet thinks they may have come in first place in

their division for spring soccer, Pete thinks that

all the medals may have said the same thing on the back...

(Harriet assures me it is because they won their division

in spring soccer, it's true they won every game)

Jack (far left) and his Irvine tourney team

in the dugout

Finally one last candid shot captured by the momarazzi -

Jack actually fell asleep while playing a video game.

He was one tired guy.

Best Day Ever

13 years ago today at the Los Angeles Temple

Pete & me

friends and family

garden reception -

Our wedding day was the

cliched happiest day of my life -

only three other days since then have come close.

Pete makes me so happy every single day.

Here's to many, many more May 24th's together!!!

Spring Soccer and Temecula Tournament

This past weekend Harriet participated in the two-day soccer tournament in Temecula. Only she and Pete went for the two days because the boys had baseball here at home, and Pete was set to ref a game or two. This marked the last time that she played with her Spring Soccer team, which was basically the same team, give or take a player or two, as her fall AYSO Plus team. So, she has been with this same coach and team of girls for nearly 8 months, and has really had a wonderful experience.

Recently I read something somewhere that said "Girls who play soccer can do anything!"

I do believe that Harriet's years of playing soccer have been quite benefical for her, and has helped build her character and contributed to her many attributes today.

Spring soccer in the the highlands of Saddleback Valley

= some amazingly beautiful playing fields

Her team running drills at their practice park -

a beautiful view with the sun gleaming off the ocean in the distance

teamwork

invariably always the smallest on the field

her faithful fans follow her all over -

I took this pic at one of her games

showing grandma with the baggie of leftovers

from the trail mix she made for Jack

when he went on his desert campout with Pete

(grandmas rock!)

"good game" high fives after the final whistle is blown

cheering tunnel the girls make at their winning games for the

opposing team, they slap their hands together and sing

"we are proud of you, and we are proud of you"

while the other team runs through.

I think they should do this at the World Cup.

every once in awhile you can catch Harriet and her

dad together on the same field at the same time

post-game slushies from Target

(Harriet's coach is in the gray shirt)

AYSO Spring Tournament 2010 - Temecula, CA

(back of tourney t-shirt)

pink pillow and blue soccer ball - all packed and ready to go!

Happy to be here!

Showing her number to the refs

hitting the field with her team for their first match

A bit of a dream came true for Harriet and her two identical twin friends from San Clemente when their teams played each other for the first match of the tournament on Saturday.

The three girls have played soccer for years and this is the first time their teams have competed against each other. They've been friends since first grade, when the twins lived down the street and around the corner from us. Even when they moved to San Clemente a few years back the girls stayed close, and many miles have been traveled on the 5 freeway between Lake Forest and San Clemente bringing them together to hang out. Both teams played a good game, and they traded off goals for awhile, but Harriet's team was the surprising victor at the 3-2 finish.

sitting in the sun post-game, icing their various injuries and sore spots

Harriet with her team and coaches

Our soccer sweatheart - we'll be back next fall!