Giving Thanks

Today and every day, I'm thankful for all the blessings that I've received.  I'm thankful for my parents who left a country they know with nothing and came to a country they've only heard of and made a success of themselves.  I'm thankful for my 2 healthy boys Michael and Matthew (sooooo thankful).  I'm thankful for my hubby who is a great husband and an even better father. I'm thankful for a healthy life and thankful for the loving family who surround me. Last, but not least, I'm thankful that we have more than enough of what we need.

How can anyone not be thankful for this? Seriously...

City By the Bay

We had a great time hanging out with the boys in "The City" last weekend.  It truly takes being away from it to really appreciate the beauty that is San Francisco.  For all the years that I've lived in Northern California, I've never really truly appreciated how beautiful and diverse it is.  So last weekend, we spent a couple of days playing tourists and visited some of the famous sites that people travel across the world to see. We also got a chance to visit with some dear friends.

We spent a day with the kids at the California Academy of Sciences.  Amazing!  Within this glass enclosed building (compound is more accurate), we visited the Aquarium, the Planetarium and a biosphere that mimicked the rainforest. The kids saw a show at the planetarium for the first time and LOVED it! Michael was so impressed, he asked M to get him the DVD.  Might be a bit of a challenge getting the same effects since we don't really have a 3-story screen. They were much less impressed with the rooftop garden, but I thought that was actually one of the coolest part of the CAS.

We also took them to see the sea lions at Pier 39.  They had a great time watching the sea lions laze around.  They were enamoured with 2 particularly sea lions who were wrestling and fighting to keep each other off the wooden platform. 

Then it was off to see the Golden Gate Bridge.  They wanted to walk on the bridge. Joy. Let me tell you that I must love them very much because I agreed inspite of my fear of heights.  Especially high places that are suspended by cables across a body of water and vibrate every time a car passes by.

Michael's List of Favorites in San Franscisco:
1. Planetarium show "Journey to the Stars"
2. Sea lions at Pier 39
3. Aquarium

Matthew's List of Favorites in San Francisco:
1. Everything

My favorite part of the trip was watching the boys enjoying the sites.  I love seeing them discover new things and become curious about how things work and why things work the way they do. I love to see amazement on their faces.  That was my favorite part of the trip.

View of San Francisco from the Golden Gate Bridge

Matthew with Golden Gate Bridge in the background

And because it's very hard to get good pictures with both of them in it, here's Michael and the GGB

At the Palace of Fine Arts

Being part of the fresco at the Palace of FIne Arts

Rotunda at the Palace of Fine Arts

Halloween in Pictures

Our visit to the Uesagi Pumpkin Patch.  The kids were not in the mood to take pictures that morning. This is one of the better family pictures.

My little green dragon.

Trick or Treat!

Here and There...

For all 4 of you readers out there, you've probably noticed that I haven't posted in a while.  I'll be honest.  I haven't posted because I haven't really felt like it and not for the lack of materials.  I'm in a transitional stage and I haven't been able to bring myself to write about it.  I'm still unemployed, but am trying really hard to take advantage of the "free time." That means being able to attend field trips with Michael's 1st grade class and volunteering to help out with class parties.  I enjoy being able to take the kids out to the park in the middle of the afternoon and I love being able to pick them up from school instead of sending them to after school care.

Like anything else, there are always advantages and disadvantages to a certain lifestyle. I like my life the way it is now, but I miss the way my life was when I was in TX too. I miss having a job, but I don't miss the morning rush to drop off the kids at school/daycare in time to make an 8am meeting. I miss my beautiful home in TX and our wonderful neighbors. But I like having my family around to depend on in CA.  I like being able to have my parents babysit when M and I go out to dinner or just leaving them with my mom when I need to make a quick run to the grocery store.

The kids seem to have adjusted pretty well.  Michael is enjoying his new school and he's doing very well. I had a parent/teacher conference with Mrs. H on Monday and she is very happy with his progress and said that he has adjusted very well. Again, like every conference I've had for him, she says that he just needs to pay attention and follow directions. No surprise there.

Matthew loves his new preschool. He only goes 3 days a week, but he has told me he wants to go everyday.  I take that as a good sign. M is going well at work.  Aside from having to travel every week, he enjoys it. Of course, he never has problems adjusting to anything.  So that just leaves me with the adjustment issues. All I can say is that I am a work in progress.