Merry Christmas '07 & Happy New Year in '08!

From Our Family to Yours...

It's Plastic, Mom!

This past August, we signed Emily up for AYSO soccer. After a fun season with 5 other girls (6 and younger), one being Emily's dear friend Kylie, we enjoyed a season-end dinner at a local pizza parlor.

Our coach, Kylie's dad, Kevin, did a wonderful job calling the girls up one at a time and highlighting some of their plays throughout the season. He then gave each of them a trophy. Now, we did not win any title, but the trophy was, I suppose, for 'effort' and 'participation'...how things have changed since I was younger!



The next morning, Emily walks into our room and she is holding her trophy.

Now, I knew that from all of the "talk" about the girls getting a trophy at the pizza dinner (thanks, Kevin) I would have assumed her elation for this thing would last a very long time. I was wrong.

As she stood there, looking somewhat confused, disappointed, and frustrated, I said, "What's up?"
She said, "Touch this" as she pointed to the top of the trophy where the girl kicking the ball was.
So, I did.
I said, "Yeah?, What are you thinking about?"

(I had a feeling I knew just by her look and tone...her and I are soooo similar! I was actually looking forward to hearing what came out of her mouth, so I indulged myself).

She said with a tone of disappointment, "It's plastic!"

I wanted to keep this going, so I said innocently, "You're right! What do you think about that?" (Oh, I couldn't contain myself!)

She replied, "It's supposed to be glass!!"

(Our children knew the difference between the two early in life. Thus putting very special value on glass. Plastic was for toys and other things that babies and kids played with.)

Oh, precious girl! Wait until you hear/learn about CZ!
:-)

Love you daughter.

Did you notice...?

...the date stamp on the last blog?

OK, so I had that started and saved in draft since 8/9/07 (not Sept as previously mentioned) :-(

It's pitiful.

I think the main reason for lack of posting is the time and steps it takes to upload and post photos...isn't that one of the main highlights of looking at blogs in the first place? It is for me!!

Please be Patient

I know, I know!! I don't like it either!!
There are so many of you that check in to see/read our family blog...I really should be able to keep up on this more frequently. I am not sure what has happened more extraordinary than any other time of year that has prevented me from keeping this up. It is however a time commitment. My brother's blog and so many of my friends have such great blogs that I spend most of my time reading theirs!! Just this 'nap time' I spent 2 hrs catching up on some of my favorite blogs.

So, instead of having 1 long post (saved in draft) titled, "2007 Overview", I will make an effort to post some of my favorite highlights of the year periodically throughout this next month. So, by the end of the year, I will have lots of new posts and thoughts and highlights of the Bernards' 2007.

Case in point, the following has been sitting in the draft section of my blog since September...

I realized that after seeing my brother's blog in August, with posted pics from Lucy and Nate's birthday party (in May), I too skipped by some fun events in our life. Here are some photos (OK, only one at this point) of our family vacation in May, Nathan turning 3, and Taekwando (a class offered through the Parks and Rec).
...enjoy...

Family photo in front of the San Diego Wild Animal Park (May)


Nathan on his new 3-wheeler--Happy Birthday son! (May)


Lucy and Nathan getting ready to celebrate their 3rd birthdays!


Emily and Nate in their Taekwando uniforms.

Quotable Quotes

Emily has always been really good at expressing how she feels. The following are some examples from different circumstances these past 2 weeks.

To dad as they are walking out of the local store...
"Dad, all your "No"s are giving me a headache".

Em is helping me water some dry spots on the back lawn...
Mom: "Emily move to a different spot now, you have watered that area enough".
Emily: "But, it's not green yet".

Em is sitting at the lunch counter struggling to finish her lunch; Nathan has already finished and is on the back patio eating a popsicle.
Mom: "Em, you are running out of time..."
Emily: "Mom! You are making me anxious!"

Last night while dad was putting her to bed.
"Dad, I like your prayers, but your air is really stinky."

Sing Me a Song You're the Piano Man

Nathan is so in tune with music. He constantly is singing, or humming, or drumming, or plunking (on Emily's keyboard) several different tunes. The current "fave" is William Tell Overture. He gets Em's piano, carries a chair into his room, and sits and plays. It is so fun to listen to (and I can close the door when I need to). I look forward to seeing what the Lord has planned for his musically inclined ear.

Swim Swim Swim

Nearly every day that we are home, the kids and I are in the pool. Emily is doing so well. The other day, she swam the length of the pool, and then dove to the drain in the deep end. She was so proud of herself and as you can imagine, I was too. We have enjoyed sharing our pool with many friends and neighbors since the beginning of the season. The above pictures are from our first swim date (April) with our dear friends, the Sathre's.
(floaties are now officially, "for babies").

She Loves Puzzles

When Jeff was gone for the week in Loreto, mid week I took the kids to Target, and they both got to pick one toy (with my approval, of course). Nathan got a bucket of Lego's, and I tried showing Emily all the Polly Pocket stuff they had (Polly is a new discovery for Em). Well, I was unsuccessful in pulling her attention away from the puzzle section. My pocket book benefited the most buy the $3.99 puzzle instead of the $11.99 Polly Pocket option.

My Pretty (Princess)....

...but don't tell her I said so.

It's in my pocket!

MOM: Hey, Nate!

NATHAN: What?

MOM: Where's your sucker?

NATHAN: It's in my pocket!

{I gave Nate a sucker to hold in his poscket until we had finished dinner...These shorts have 1 snap to hold the fly closed and then 1 at the waist. When he wears these shorts, he gets excited because he has more pocket options.}

Pool Update, June 2007

We have had a few additions and changes since our last post about the pool. The first addition is the pool house (glorified bathroom) at the back of the pool patio. Also, we have the fire pit finished and filled and working! Yeah! Another change that you may notice is the color of the coping (trim) around the pool. The contractor got the color right, but unfortunately it had to be applied to the existing so I suspect there my be future applications as areas may need touch ups. Not too certain of that. Below are some pics of the pool area and some pool activities with friends. We are loving the pool and the fun entertainment it affords the kids and adults. Not sure if our neighbors are all that happy though, we went from hours in the street socializing and chatting to not seeing them for days maybe weeks at a time, because we are always in our backyard now. I think I may have an "open swim" day or two a week and just let everyone know that from 3-5pm anyone (with parental supervision) can come join us...we'll be in it anyway. :-)

Catching up

We have had a busy couple of months...

Our yard is slowly coming together. We are cleaning out planters and planting almost every weekend, while during the week, I give my hands a rest as blisters heal. In the above photo, the pool equipment will be situated behind the pool bathroom (and between the two palms). The "bath" will consist of a pre-made 12x14 "Tuff Shed" that we will drywall and plum for the amenities. It will also have a covered 5' deep porch with pitched roof, to match the patio on the back of our house. We are looking into getting a Palapa (thatched shade cover) for over the BBQ.

Below are some pictures of our first swim...It was fun. Nathan says, "This is the best bath forever."

Here are some wide shots of the pool, fence, and some of the plants that we had planted at the end of February:

It is Finished!!

Well, the pool plastering was delayed from Thursday, to Friday, to Sunday. Knowing that we were on a deadline to be able to heat and use the spa on Valentine's Day...this was sad news, but not the end of the world...let's keep it all in perspective.

The disappointment was more that the plastering appointment was not conflicting with a scheduled weekend in Solvang for my dad's 60th birthday celebration. Which, by the way, was a BLAST!! Below are some pics of the weekend.

Below, we rented a bicycle built for 6 adults and 5 kids. We had 6 adults and 4 kids. So fun! Many laughs as we veered off the map and into a residential neighborhood, up and down hills, with no gears to change.

Below, is a pic taken Sunday morning. The temp in the valley was 40 degrees at 6:45AM. (Jeff left the hotel at 4:30AM to meet the plastering crew).

The kids and I (along with Bub, Toby, and their kiddos) saw my folks off on their hot air balloon ride (which was a gift for my dad from all of us). While waiting for the balloon to land the kids and I had breakfast with my brother and his family.

On our way to the car to meet my folks, Emily tripped over Nathan and she went face first into the parking lot pavement. OUCH! As of today (4 days later), she has 2 black eyes coming in. Below is a photo 15 minutes post contact.

Unfortunately, this was the center of attention the rest of the day...instead of hearing all about the balloon ride and enjoying the fresh new look of the plastered pool (later that day). Ugh.

Below you can see the dark under her eyes just starting.

RE: Pool on Sunday. The kids and I arrived home at 1PM, with the crew just getting into their cars...the pool was beginning to fill. Jeff calculated 5 sec/1 gallon with 35,000+ gal to fill....it would take a while. To both our surprises, it filled in 23 hrs. Faster than expected.

Below the pic shows only a few more hours to go! The baja shelf is not yet covered. It will have about 6" deep of water when the pool is full.

The BBQ is finished. we have yet to pass FINAL inspection, so the sink (the void on the left of the counter) is not installed. Outside sinks are not allowed in our city (ask Jeff, if you don't understand, something to do with tying it into the storm drain).

Wednesday, we had our gate installed. The kids are now able, after 9 weeks (of pretty great weather and playing in the garage), to finally play in the backyard again!! Yeah! I do not have photos of the pool fence (which does not look as bad as I thought it would). I will post those later.

All in all, I am THRILLED with the whole look of the pool. I am really looking forward to getting some trees planted, and the pool house started. We will have dirt grass until the spring....oh well. We can't wait to celebrate and share a great summer with you all (not all at once) hahaha.

Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers on our behalf these past months.

Another Pool Update...

I am hopefull that this will be the last of the "updates". From this point forward, you will have to stop by and see for your self, the final product.

...Just kidding. I will post more. :-)


Things have been really hectic around here these past 2 weeks. Yesterday, we took a side step with the electrician.


In a nut shell, he was charging us an unfair amount for some minor work that was done, and Jeff stood his ground and offered to pay fair market value + 30% but the guy got weird and angry and walked off the job, then Jeff said, "And don't come back".

Come to learn, he happens to be the guy who will be plastering the pool too! Ugh.

Hopefully, Rick (our pool contractor) has ironed things out and the job will be finished soon (at least phase 1. Phase 2 is the pool house). I hear that the electrician should be here to finish the contracted job and plaster will go in on Friday!! Yeah!


Below are pics of the installed pool equipment and the pool almost ready for plaster.

The tile has been started on the BBQ.

A Picture and a Prayer

Monday morning started early with cement trucks on the front lawn and in the drive way. During breakfast I asked Emily if she would draw a picture of our pool and our family. She lit up and said, "Sure! But I do not know how to draw a pool." After getting her started, she made a lovely oval shape in the center of the page. She then proceeded to draw "Ariel" (the Little Mermaid) in the pool, with all of us around the pool. She then wrote out every ones names. I again surprised her by telling her (while still wearing pj's) to get shoes and a coat on. She was very curious to know more....
I proceeded to lead her out side on the the back patio to get an up close view of all the business that was taking place with puring the deck.
We talked about all the fun we will be having around our pool and all the family and friends that will be enjoying it as well.
I told her that we were going to put her picture in the cement and say a prayer for all who come to our house. That we will be blessed with happy memories and safety around our new pool.

Pool Update

OK, I know it's been a while since I have last posted pics of the yard. There have been lots of changes in details, but may be difficult to see some of those in the photos. So, I will jot out quickly what has happened since the new year.

The outline of the patio (deck) has been formed up.

Coping (the 12" around the edge of the pool, the steps, top of the fire pit, and seat wall) has been poured with a bull nose edge.

Stone has been finished on the face of the BBQ, bench seat, and fire pit.

The deck has been prepped for the pour tomorrow morning. I am really excited for tomorrow and the following week as tile will be set on Wednesday. Sounds trivial, but we are praying that Jeff and I can celebrate a toast in our spa on Valentine's Day. :-)

Below are the pictures of the progression. I will upload them LARGE so that you can see some of the details better.

Above, you can see the the dirt is in it's first stages of prep. Also the BBQ, fire pit, and seat wall is formed.

Below, you can see that the stone is finished on the BBQ (tile on top--will be done on Wednesday)

Above: We had some freaky weather, as an unexperienced so californian, I like to call it snow, though I think it was technically, hail (though it was soft and light, and stuck to the ground).

The following day was bright and beautiful! In the above picture, to the far right you can see a step where a 5' covered patio will go after framing of the, phase 2, pool bath (8x12' toilet, shower, sink, and linen cabnets).

Here you can see the coping, and the steps, along with some of the stone (finger grip/ledge) started on the pool facing.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

Recently, my sister-in-law sent a creative acronym using their last name, my dear friend Jessica has also used acronyms in the past...I thought I would give it a try.

B: Blessed; with a healthy family
E: Emily; eager to learn
R: Role playing; and pretending with Emily & Nate
N: Nathan; naughty sometimes, and nice most of the time
A: Anxious; for the yard to be cleaned up and the pool done
R: Ready; to be finished with making pool decisions
D: Dirty; that's how our year has started in the back yard
S: Silly; we all are