A Pirate's Life for Me!

Titus's kindergarten class was in a scene of the middle school's play, "A Pirate's Life for Me". Titus thought it was very cool to be able to dress like a pirate (although he was wishing he could've carried a sword like the "big pirates"). This is a blurry pic taken from the back of the auditorium. That's Titus in the middle:



Titus (middle) with some other male pirates from his class:




A group of beautiful pirate princesses:



Aaaaaaarg!!!!!!!!

MLK Dream Run January 10, 2009

Auntie Andi and Aislynn came to cheer us on!



Jaden running his little heart out in the 1/2 mile run. Afterwards, he was crying and saying his chest hurt (it was very cold!). But he was very excited to find out later that he got 1st place for his age group!




Little Titus was so excited and proud to run in a race (see him in the brown hood?) He ran hard, but tripped close to the starting line (too many kids on a skinny path). Despite that setback, he got up, kept running and finished his 1/4 mile race ! Good job Titus!




Noah (black hood) getting ready to start his race. Notice that he's a head taller than the other kids in his age group. :) He had a lot of fun and also got a first place trophy for his age group. His good friend Natalie is in the purple next to him.



Noah and Natalie after their race. Good job pre-schoolers!

Jaden and his friend Rebecca after the races....they were both sore later...1/2 mile is a long run for them!

Jenny and me (Jenny's my running partner---go girlies!)

Titus and his friend Rachel:

Here I am at the end of my 10K (6.2 mile) race. I can see the finish line!

My friend Karl and me (he ran the 10K also):

A good race day...a good cause...scholarships for high school seniors. It was a win-win day!

Christmas Tree Lane Walk

The kids and I joined half of Fresno (it seemed) for a stroll down Christmas Tree Lane on Tuesday evening. I say stroll literally...as in pushing a double STROLLer through the crowds of people. :) The kids enjoyed seeing Santa (Noah's not in the picture because he's clinging to Santa's leg behind the others). Our friends the Amos Family joined us, and all the boys in the group had a blast finding sticks to play swords with and rocks to save (Titus and Jaden each came home with about 30 little rocks in their pockets...as if we don't have 5,000 rocks in our front yard!). After the walk, we enjoyed hot cocoa , egg nog and tri-tip panini bread sandwiches for FREE! at a restaurant patio in Fig Garden Village. Good times were had by all. The night ended hilariously as Noah sipped his hot cocoa and said, "Mommy, hot choco-let makes fire in my mouth...LOOK!" and he proceeded to exhale a cloud of smoke into the cold wintery air. See pic's below:

Remembering Kamilah

It's officially been a year since my sweet Kamilah went to be with Jesus. She taught me so much---how to let loose and be silly, how to love unconditionally and not to judge others. She was a tough cookie...and a wacky cupcake. I used to think that since I loved Kamilah so much, I would love my own daughter even more. But now I realize that I truly loved Kamilah with a full measure of love, as I do my own little ones. I miss you, Kamilah, but I look forward to seeing you with your perfect little body next to our Saviour. I know He loves you as much as I do.

Kamaria and Kamilah (right) in May 2007

Happy Fresno Thanksgiving

It's always this time of year that I realize that all of my immediate family members are IN town. As many others travel to a destination to visit family, my family gathers with lots of food and great fellowship at MY HOUSE! When it's all over, everyone is back home within 10 minutes. This year was a bit different because Mat asked if HE could make the turkey. Huh? OF COURSE you can!!! It was delicious and very low-stress for me and my parents...Thanks Mat! After dinner, the kids performed a few Thanksgiving songs and acted out the story of the first Thanksgiving (you know---Indians and Pilgrims---Noah was the Turkey and his line was "gobble-gobble", which he said after many whispering hints from his brothers). Even little Aislynn got on "stage" and rolled around on cue. Overall, a fun evening....THANKSGIVING IS MY FAVORITE HOLIDAY!!!! Enjoy the snapshots:

Dad carving the bird:




Close your eyes and pucker up!

The whole McLain family gang:

My brother Aaron didn't waste a minute!

A proud Mat with his prize bird! It was YUMMMMMMY!

Kids in the Fall Backyard

My kids all whined and complained when the gardeners came this week to clean up our yard..."My pile of leaves was just getting to the size I wanted!!!!" Jaden and Titus even spent part of a day "hiding" leaves up in the treehouse so they wouldn't be found. I love this time of year...there is something calm about the cooler weather and the "snowing" leaves from our big oak tree. Here's some shots from the other day I thought you might enjoy:


Aislynn's hair is a bit frizzy from rolling in all the leaves! I'm lovin' the teeth!

AWANA Grand Prix

After several coats of paint and a topping of glitter glue, the boys were ready to race their derby cars at the AWANA Grand Prix! They had so much fun watching the races, waiting for THEIR car to race, and even watching their cars do well in at least 1 heat each.