The Friedline Family

Bye bye baby

2010-08-30T09:55:00.000-07:00

Aiden has started Kindergarten! The whole thing is so bittersweet. He's my baby and it's hard to let him grow up sometimes. When Kelsey started school I was more scared for her than sad. She was so shy and insecure at that age. I also had a 6 week old baby at the time and was worried that I wouldn't be there enough for her when she needed me. Somehow she survived :) With Aiden the experience is a little different. He's a mamma's boy through and through, but much more sure of himself. He's willing to try pretty much anything new with a little encouragement from mom and dad. He was very scared the morning of school. He broke down a few times crying that he didn't want me to leave him. Kelsey was good at distracting and I think her excitement at starting 5th grade helped a little bit. We took the obligatory "morning before school" photo and then off we went!
We got Kelsey to her line, gave her kisses goodbye and then off we went to the kindergarten classes. I think Aiden was completely overwhelmed by all the students because after a while he was asking me to hold him instead of walking through the crowded breezeways. As we were waiting for the bell to ring and the teacher to open the door, Aiden spotted two of his friends from this t-ball team. He was so excited to see some friendly faces. After that he went from being scared to being excited. He went in the classroom, found his cubby and happily waved goodbye to me from the circle rug as he waited for the teacher. I was a little lost for a minute. I had to expected to stay in the classroom for a while as he got used to things and then slowly make my way out after he seemed ok. I wasn't expecting to just drop him off and leave! But he was fine and perfectly happy with the rest of the class as the teacher made introductions. I was happy he wasn't scared but sad that he didn't seem to need me at all either even though I know that's how it should be.
We're in our 2nd week of school and everything is going great! Kelsey loves her teacher but hates all the work. Her work load seems to have doubled from last year and she's struggling with that a little. Aiden thinks kindergarten is the greatest thing ever and was pretty bummed to learn he couldn't go to school on weekends as well. As for me, I'm enjoying my 3 1/2 hours of free time each day :) I help in Aiden's class once a week which is something I always wished I could have done with Kelsey. All in all, the change has been a positive one :)

Is it that time already?

2010-03-15T08:46:00.000-07:00

I'm signing Aiden up for kindergarten today and I'm feeling quite sappy and nostalgic looking through all of his old baby photo's and video's. I don't want him to start school. I want him to be my baby forever. I want to keep him home and watch movies with him and cuddle on the couch (he's such a sweet cuddler). I want him to be my sweet baby boy who never grows up. Where's Peter Pan when you need him? I don't want to share him with everyone else. He's so excited about it though so here we go! Having an empty house everyday is going to take some getting used to.
So, because I'm feeling so sappy I've decided to post a couple pictures of Aiden through the years. They went by WAY, way too fast for me....

P90X!

2010-02-11T13:29:00.000-08:00

This is the work out plan Bryan and I have been on for over 2 weeks now. Its pretty intense I have to say. You work out 6 days a week with one day of rest on Sunday and the program last a total of 90days (although most people just continue to start over and do it again). Depending on what you want to accomplish there are different workout plans for you. I chose "lean". I don't really need to lose much weight, and I don't want to look like some crazy female body builder either. I just want to build some stamina and firm up a few places :). The first week was a killer! Bryan and I hobbled around like old people grumbling every time we walked up the stairs or sat down in a chair. Man, were we sore... My workout looks like this.

Monday-Core Synergistics (lots of push ups, a little yoga and some cardio all targeted towards the core).

Tuesday- Arms, shoulders and abs.

Wednesday- Cardio (I love cardio!)

Thursday- Yoga (yuck! Yoga is my new enemy)

Friday- Legs

Saturday- Kenpo (another fav.! If you like kick boxing this is a workout for you!)

All of these work out are at least an hour to an hour and half long and its HARD. I haven't found a work out yet that compares. So far in 2 weeks I've lost an inch off of my waist. And did I mention that I'm not dieting with this work out? Ive cut back on my snack foods but otherwise I'm not dieting at all.

So if you're looking to get in shape, and lose some inches, this workout will give it to you! The workouts are creative and fun. You're constantly changing position and working muscles you didn't even know you had. Give it a shot! You won't be disappointed.

Merry Christmas!

2010-01-14T08:58:00.001-08:00

Yes, I know I'm really behind with updating this blog. It's the middle of January and I'm just now getting around to updating the Christmas photos!

This year was a good Christmas for a couple reasons. First, Bryan initially had to work both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. But he somehow (and I still don't know how he got so lucky) was able to move around shifts, and trade days which ultimately led to him getting both days off. The kids were really excited to have him home. And secondly, my cousin Jared, who I haven't seen in a couple years, was finally able to come home and spend the holidays with the extended family. I don't think he's been home for a Christmas in 5 years or more. It was really fun having all of us cousins together again on Christmas.
The kids of course, got lots of goodies. Some of the favorites were an additional level to Kelsey's doll house and a new DS game she desperately wanted.

For Aiden he got his very own Nintendo DS so he can be cool like the big kids. And an AI dinosaur he's named Ally. This little robotic dinosaur is quite amazing to watch. It responds to sound and touch. You can teach it tricks and basically treat it like it's you're own little robot pet.
Unfortunately both Bryan and I got quite sick the day after Christmas. I ended up having to go to the doctor and getting a diagnosis of a lung and sinus infection. Its been 3 weeks now and I'm finally feeling better with the exception of some fatigue and an annoying cough. Needless to say our New Years Eve was pretty boring. Bryan and I were both in bed by 8pm and asleep by 9:30 lol.
Here's hoping for a happy and healthy 2010!

Happy Fall!

2009-10-30T16:09:00.000-07:00

I haven't been too inspired to take photos lately but with the Fall season creeping up on me I finally had the urge to drive around out in the hills and see what I could find. I loved all the rows of grapes. Many were just starting to change color and looked gorgeous. Unfortantely it's still a little too early to snap some pictures of the changing leaves. But I had fun anyways.

Fall Fun!

2009-10-27T15:49:00.000-07:00

We took our annual trip to the Silveyville pumpkin patch. The kids can enjoy hay rides, pony rides, hay pyramids to climb on, crafts and more. The kids picked out one big pumpkin for carving this year and then 2 smaller pumpkins for painting. The painting was a big hit again this year!

Off to the beach we go!

2009-08-09T09:57:00.000-07:00

As part of our summer festivities, my mom, my sister, myself and our kids took a long weekend trip to Monterey. We stayed at the Pajaro Dunes condo resort and lucky us, our condo was right on the sand with a gorgeous view of the water. We had some rough weather and some serious cat fights among the kids but overall it was great to escape from everyday life and spend time walking on the beach. Our second day there drove into Monterey for the day. We spent some time on Cannery Row walking around and eating ice cream then made a stop at the natural tide pools. The kids loved exploring for sea creatures.

Out with the old and in with the new...

2009-06-28T07:42:00.000-07:00

Kelsey is officially done with the 3rd grade!! She's now considered one of the dreaded "Older Kids" at Foxboro Elementary. You dont get as many recesses as an "older kid" and she's only now begining to see that getting older often means more work and less play, which hasn't gone over well with her or her classmates :) But still, she's excited to move forward and see what there is to learn as a big bad 4th grader.
Her last day of school was alot of fun. The class had a breakfast party which I thought was great because I volunteered to help out, which means I got to eat the ridiculous amounts of donuts, cinnamon rolls and fresh fruit that people brought. (yum!). After the kids were high on sugar they had an awards ceremony. The class got to vote on things for their classmates like, "Best Smile" or "Best in math". Kelsey was excited to receive the "Best in Citizenship" award. The teacher described her as always friendly and willing to help out anyone in class. Each child was also required to give a speech which was pretty cute. After awards the kids spent the rest of the day playing board games and enjoying time with their classmates. It was a great day!

Sing sing sing....

2009-06-28T07:38:00.000-07:00

This year was Kelsey's first chance to tryout for choir at school and she absoloutely loves it. She has her special folder with all her songs and she practices almost daily to memorize the words. Her choir class has been working this whole second semester to memorize songs for the Spring Musical. Kelsey was really excited. She got to perform in an assemble for the whole school and then again in the evening for the parents. She received 2 awards in choir. One for being a 1st year choir student and the other for perfect attendance and always being prepared.

Family vacation

2009-05-28T12:52:00.000-07:00

We took some vacation time to visit with family in Nevada. We stayed for a week and everyone had a great time. We hiked, the guys got to fish, we ate good food, had alot of lazy days and played endless card games :) It was great to see everyone and we look forward to our next family trip.

Fairytale Town

2009-04-28T14:10:00.000-07:00

I took a little trip with my sister and her kids to Fairytale Town in Sacramento. Unfortunately Kelsey was in school that day so just Aiden came along with me. We had a picnic lunch outside the zoo by the ponds. The kids chased squirels and ducks and had a good ol' time. We spent a couple hours inside Fairytale town walking the crooked mile and going down several of the huge slides they had. Its a really small park but the kids love it. And because we went during the week the park was pretty empty, so our kids had the run of the place. It was a great day!

Happy Easter

2009-04-14T14:16:00.000-07:00

We had a very low key Easter this year. The adults spent their time relaxing and playing cards while the kids hunted for eggs and went horse back riding. My cousin Anne had her horse, Beau housed out back on my Aunt and Uncles property so she decided to give all the little kids a ride. Kelsey was a pro and handled the reigns really well. Aiden was unsure at first, but once he came back after his first ride he was all smiles. I was a bad mom this year and forgot to bring my camera so these pictures are taken with my phone. You'll have to pardon the crappy quality.

I hope everyone had a great holiday with friends and family.

First place... Vanden

2009-03-17T13:42:00.000-07:00

Time to share a little about my other family- my girls :)

I've been teaching at Vanden for what seems like forever now. The program was in shambles when I started there and slowly over the years with the help of dedicated parents and passionate students, the colorguard has come a long way. This is our second year doing winterguard and things couldn't be better. Last year was a bit of a struggle as the girls were introduced to what winterguard was all about. This year there was nothing but excitement. We're entered in the Scholastic division which is the second highest division in Northern CA (NCBA) and so far we've placed 1st at all 3 competitions. There's are still some kinks to be ironed out but we're moving forward and the group is getting better every week. We have 2 more shows to go until Championships. I hope the winning streak continues. Check out the link of my girls performing at the Vallejo show. We had a couple drops and little mistakes but over all it was a clean show.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXPD3XHviKg&feature=channel_page

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-30T09:01:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Despite all the holiday crazyness, this years festivities turned out pretty good. I hosted Christmas Eve at my house which was a bit chaotic but it was also fun to play hostess. At least I managed to have enough seating for everyone this time. The kids got some really neat gifts and they loved playing with their cousins.

Craft Day

2008-12-30T08:47:00.000-08:00

Every year during the first week of December all the ladies and kids on my mom's side of the family, get together for our Christmas Craft day. The kids make gingerbread houses and the adults sit and relax, or make crafts as well. Usually Christmas cards or other fun crafts they have. The kids love making houses every year and instead of using those premade kits we get really crafty. We use graham crackers and a frosting mix then we add whatever candy we like! Both kids loved decorating their houses and of course, eating lots and lots of candy.

Jedi master you will be....

2008-11-02T08:52:00.000-08:00

Happy Halloween!! The kids are both into Star Wars right now. Kelsey decided early on that she wanted to be Princess Leia this year. Aiden took a long time to decide. He wanted to be Darth Vader and then Chewbacca. At the last minute he finally settled on a character and chose to be Obi-Wan Kenobi. For Halloween we went to my church where they always have a Harvest Festival. There's games for all age groups that you get to play in order to get candy. They also have tons of large bouncy houses set up, and cotton candy to eat (as if the kids needed more sugar). It was a lot of fun!

Princess Pumpkin and Totoro

2008-10-19T19:13:00.000-07:00

This year instead of carving pumpkins the kids got to paint them and they had a blast doing it! Both kids were very meticulous about how their pumpkins should look. Kelsey, being the girly girl she is, wanted to paint "Princess Pumpkin". We purposely chose a pumpkin that had a long curly stem so it could look like curly blond hair high on her Princess Pumpkin head. I was surprised with Aiden. I thought he'd just slap some paint on and be done in about 2 minutes. And although his pumpkin looks abstract, don't be fooled. He spent more time painting than Kelsey did. He was very particular about how to mush all those colors together. He spent about an hour delicately painting each color on his pumpkin. About 3/4 of the way through he yelled, "Mommy, its Totoro!!". Apparently his pumpkin resembled a large grayish animal like thing on a movie that he likes haha. That animal's name is Totoro, hence the name for his pumpkin. All in all it was a great afternoon. I only wish we had bought more pumpkins for the kids to paint!

Pumpkin Patch fun

2008-10-14T19:29:00.000-07:00

We've been trying to make it a tradition for the past few years to go to Silveyville for our pumpkins. There's alot to do there and the kids always have a great time. There's a craft center, 4 wheel driving, and a maze. This year there was a teepee with an Indian and Pilgrim display inside that the kids could could go crawl into. Both kids got to pick their own pumpkin and instead of carving them, we're going to paint them! Both kids are really excited for that.

Soccer Time!

2008-10-02T07:32:00.000-07:00

Bryan had to leave on a business trip for 2 weeks to Florida so we decided to take the kids to the park to play soccer and just have fun before he left. The kids mostly played on the playground but Bryan was really getting into the soccer game!

Kelsey starts 3rd grade.

2008-09-09T12:15:00.000-07:00

Its been a couple weeks already but Kelsey is an official 3rd grader now! She started school on the 25th of August and so far she's really enjoying it. Things got changed around a little at her school this year. They went from a year round schedule to a modified schedule, which means her vacation time is alot different than before, and all the kids were mixed up and placed in different classes which was hard for Kelsey to adjust to. Also, her very best friend moved away to another school in the district and Kelsey has been sad without her. But she has a great teacher and im sure she'll make alot of new friends soon.

Our trip to the zoo.

2008-08-23T17:57:00.001-07:00

My best friend Amanda is moving away in a couple weeks. We decided we needed to get together and have a fun day with the kids. We took them to the Sacramento Zoo and the day was perfect. The zoo was pretty empty so the kids could wander around without getting lost in the crowd. We had alot of fun.

Our 4 year Anniversary

2008-08-07T08:50:00.000-07:00

This year Bryan planned a secret trip for the 2 of us. I didnt know where we going but it turns out we stayed at a beautiful beach resort called Santuary. We had a suite on the 2nd floor that was right on the beach. The view was fantastic. On our 2nd day there we went for a long hike in the Point Lobos State Reserve. The weather was a little chilly but the hike was very pretty. It was a great trip. I wish we could have stayed longer!

4th of July

2008-07-17T16:04:00.000-07:00

We went to Winters for the 4th of July this year. The fire work show was great!

Aiden turns 3!

2008-07-05T19:49:00.000-07:00

We had Aiden's birthday here at home on the 29th. We rented a huge bounce house/slide combo for the kids which turned out to be a hit! Even some of us adults jumped in and enjoyed the fun.

Merry Maids?

2008-06-19T21:19:00.000-07:00

Don't you all wish you had a cleaning service like I do? There's nothing like vacuuming with a naked toosh and some rain boots.

Outdoor fun

2008-06-05T13:12:00.000-07:00

These pictures were too funny not to post. Kelsey was trying her hardest to get that rope from Kendra and naturally, the dog was having none of it.

The one of the kids together was so cute, im glad I caught it on film.

Where did my hair go?

2008-05-26T21:01:00.000-07:00

Yep, I cut it off. I've been growing my hair out for quite a while now with plans to cut it off really short at some point. Bryan's been begging me to chop it off so I went for it. I cut off about a foot of hair (and let me tell you... that first chop of the scissors was NOT fun!) and donated it to Locks of Love which I was really happy about. It's a super fun hair cut. Or like one of the students says. It's a "sassy" hair cut lol. And the best part is that it takes me only about 20 min to get it dried and styled where as before it would take me a good hour! I took some pictures to share but being the goof that I am, I didn't think to actually style it before taking pictures! Oh well.. you get the idea.

It's the Happiest Place on Earth

2008-05-16T10:51:00.000-07:00

Disneyland here we come! We took a family vacation to Disneyland and the kids had a blast. Kelsey was finally tall enough to ride all of the roller coasters and bigger rides this time around. She was scared at first but ended up loving everything. Aiden was a trooper and willingly went on anything we took him on. He was a little scared of Pirates of the Carribean though. The kids really enjoyed the Disneyland Parade which I think was the highlight of the trip for them. Kelsey loved seeing all the Pincesses. It was a great vacation and we cant wait to go back again.

It's the cheese!

2008-05-02T12:17:00.000-07:00

This past week Kelsey was in her very first school play. It was titled

"The Cheese Stands Alone" and was basically about standing up for yourself and for what you believe in even when it's hard. It was a cute play and Kelsey was really excited to be on stage. One of the songs her class sang was, The Farmer in the Dell. Kelsey was the rat that took cheese.

Rock Band!

2008-04-30T11:30:00.001-07:00

This past month Aiden has been a regular drummer boy around the house. He gets out his makeshift drumsticks and and bangs on garbage cans, plastic tubs, the couch, tables, you name it. Bryan went out yesterday to buy Rock Band. Of course Aiden was very excited to now have a "drum set" to play. Bryan and Aiden have been playing drums and guitar almost non stop.

Happy Easter!

2008-03-24T11:49:00.000-07:00

We spent Easter at my Aunts house this year. The weather was great and the kids loved hunting for easter eggs!

Where's the party?

2008-03-18T17:24:00.000-07:00

These are the kinds of pictures that the kids will look back on and laugh at when they're adults. Look closely. Can you see what exactly those "hats" are?

I'd like to thank Barbie for providing such excellent head ware

Bedtime?

2008-03-18T11:46:00.001-07:00

Both kids were wired on something the other night. It was nearly 10pm (2 hrs past bedtime) and both kids were acting like animals. This is what I caught them doing when they were supposed to be brushing teeth and cleaning up their toys. Jumping off Kelsey's bed was WAY more fun.

Spring time!

2008-03-11T09:09:00.000-07:00

Spring is almost here! We've been enjoying some great weather. The kids have been able to play outside everyday for the past couple weeks.

It's also a great time of year for me to capture some flowers on film. Everything is starting to bud and sprout up.