Fun Christmas times!

A visit to Jack London Square!

A pre-Christmas present from Nona & Papa Avery -- Christmas jammies!

We built graham cracker houses

Alex built a mansion.

Seany built a candy house; he found it delish! Ryan relied on Daddy to help!

Andrew went with a Christmasy theme.

Alex earned his Webelos badge & his arrow of light

We celebrated understated December birthdays

At the planetarium in Salt Lake City.

Twix in space.

Birthday cake! Andrew turned 7, Alex, 11, and Papa celebrated his birthday with us too! Seany and Ryan happily posed for the snap.

We made a pit stop in Vegas

M&M World -- Alex, Seany, RyGuy, and Andrew. FYI, this is their favorite Vegas attraction!

We ate at the Rainforest Cafe at MGM Grand and saw the Lions! Andrew, Seany, Ryan and Alex.

Winning awards

Alex won an honorable mention for the "Together we can...take care of the world."

Fall Fun

Raking 3 leaves.

Harvesting chubby carrots -- yummo!

Scaring your mom, expecting Seany and seeing this guy instead.

Our Wyoming Adventure

Sean, Andrew, Ryan, and Alex on the Evanston Riverwalk.

Sean, Andrew, Alex, and Ryan.

The 4 saddled up in the Mickey Ds. Alex and Andrew at table 1. Ryan and Seany at table 2.

One day, we got in the car and drove to Wyoming, just to check the state off the list.

Andrew rides a 2 wheeler!

Andrew learned to ride a bike. He sort of got on and could just do it. In just one day!

Zoo day!

In Walmizzle, Mom to the chicklets:

"This is not a family where we touch each other! I don't want to see anyone in this family touch another person!"

The little reader

Andrew is on the fast track toward full on reading. Last week, he brought home a new packet! "Mom! Mom! Guess what I'm on level H! (pause) HOLLA!"

Job hunt advice from the 6 years old wise one

Typing on the computer, the following occurred.

Andrew: "Mom, can we have dinner yet?"

Mom: "No, I have to finish applying for this job."

Andrew: "Where is it?"

Mom: "California."

Andrew (exasperated): "No, I meant what place is it, like now you work at Pinnacle?"

Mom: "Google."

Andrew (thrilled): "Make sure you tell them you're a girl. If it's a man that hires for it. He'll like you because you're a girl."

Employment in California!

Mark received a job offer for a 2 year contract at Google! This means we get to move back home! I am really thrilled and proud of him -- he's such a great employee and he is always well liked by his subordinates, I hope this is a great fit for him. And it's exciting to see him go to work for a company that we know so much about!

We will be apart for a time while we find out if in this economy we can sell our house or if we will rent it out for a bit. Then we'll get ready to move -- moving with 4 chicklets is going to be an adventure. Before we even start I have a list:

• Find out about the UCSF non-official spina bifida program.
• Transfer everyone's medical records over.
• Find a doctor that will be a good fit for Alex and Ryan.
• Hope the same the doctor is a good fit for the other guys.
• Look into schools, early intervention programs, afterschool activities, etc.
• Find out if I will be able to work remotely or find new employment.
• Find a buyer/renter.
• Based on that outcome find a place in Cali. :)
• Then the moving list will start!

I am awed that we will live close to our families again. Over the last 7 years, there have been very difficult times that Mark and I have always managed through. We have always been in this life together. This will be a new challenge for us, another moment of our marriage that we can say we never want to go through again. This is first time we will ever spend more than a week apart and this will be the first time the chicklets will not live everyday in a two parent household. My prayers include as brief a time as possible before we are all together again, the chicklets handle this with minimal pain and with good behavior, and we manage to see one another regularly throughout the time apart.
I know that both sets of grandparents will really enjoy having the chicklets close again. And Mark and I are happy to be close to our families again.
So the unspecified time line begins!

Alex & Andrew's school pictures

Soccer Stars!

Seany's snap is above and he is in the last boy in the first row in the team picture.

RyGuy's snap is below and he is the first boy in the first row in the team picture.

Scarecrow by Andrew

The Big Red Barn

On the wagon ride with Grandma - Ryan, Grandma, Sean, Alex, and Andrew.

Seany ghost.

Ryan and Andrew in front, Sean and Alex in back.

Alex, Seany, Andrew, and Ryan -- each with their chosen pumpkin!

10 long years

Alex: That song is 20 years old. That's old. I'm 10 years old and it's been a LONG 10 years.

Happy 5th Birthday Seany and RyGuy

The loot!

The birthday twix -- Seany in gray, Ry in red.

The knights: Seany left, Ryan right.

The zoo -- Andrew, Seany (sitting), Ry (standing), and Alex.

Preschool: Day 1

Seany waiting for the bus and posing for the camera.

Ryan on the way to his classroom.

More bests

I spoke to some of the chicklets on the phone this afternoon. I asked how each chicklet was and the best thing that happened.

Seany: "I made a tiger and a mfoashgnwtroawetiajkgaslfd!"

Mommy: "Great! What did you make with the tiger?"

Seany: "I said I makde a mfoashgnwtroawetiajkgaslfd, Mom."

I could hear, "Sheesh, listen when I speak to you" coursing through his brain.

Break to RyGuy....

Ryan: "I took a nap! (pause) And I went potty!"

Papa to Grandpa

Andrew: "Dad, I forgot how to spell PAPA, so I wrote GRANDPA instead."

Best thing

Every night at dinner, we go around the table highlighting the "best" thing that happened that day. Seany usually creates an adventure with sound effects and a super hero -- Seany. Ryan will either say something he did -- took a nap, ate lunch -- or go the Seany route. Alex and Andrew try to home in on one stellar moment.

Last night, Alex enjoyed soccer practice because he got to play with the rest of his team.

Andrew announced, "OH! I want to go. The best thing about my day was school. You wanna know why? Lunch. Mini-corndogs."

So glad the school district aspires to improve the palettes of such young charges.

Little Man

Welcome to the world, little man. You are loved.

First day of school 2010, baby!

The buds -- Andrew heading into 1st and Alex cruising into 5th!

In they're school gear, ready to go.

And they're off!

The Grotto

Ryan playing in the dam.

Ryan and Seany in one of the Grotto 'caves.'

Commotion

One morning, we woke at 6 am to lots of banging and crashing. A disgruntled Mark got out of the bed to investigate. Suddenly there was silence. Mark came back to the bed, "Gladiators with blasters" he whispered as he went back to sleep.

Girls

At my work bbq at the park. Seany and the little 3 year old blondie spend time strolling to and fro hand in hand. Break to Ryan catching sight of this sweetness. He ran full blast over there and tackled blondie.

Golden Gate Playground

Alex climbing the ropes.

Seany hanging from the zip line.

Ryan (above) and Andrew (below) headed down the hill slide.