Bongo Boy...Jacob got his last birthday present yesterday. He got REAL professional bongos. They are super cool and have great sound. Boy, the neighbors love us! Good thing we renewed our lease before we got the bongos...ha! Jacob was thrilled and Julia joined right in.

Career Day...John spoke at Career Day at Jacob's school on Friday. He spoke to the 4th and 5th graders and life and being a pilot. Jacob got to come and listen and help pass out flyers and pictures to the kids. He thought that was cool. John said it was really different to speak to 4th vs. 5th graders. Fourth graders are genuinely interested. Fifth graders just want to be cool...ha! Then, John got to stay for the egg races at school. Each kindergarten brought to hard boiled eggs to school. One was plain and was used for the race. The second was decorated and name and then entered into the "Egg Fashion Show"...ha! Jacob's egg looked like a Solid Gold Dancer with gold glitter, googly eyeballs, and feathers for hair. He named it Spidey.

Julia has been our little bunny rabbit for 2 days. They made bunny masks at school on Thursday and she has been wearing it and hopping around the house ever since.

Big Birthday Surprise...John surprised me yesterday afternoon by announcing I wouldn't be cooking dinner last night and I should be ready to go out around 6-6:30pm. He had arranged for a babysitter and was taking me out on a surprise for my birthday. I was SO excited! Not just about the surprise part but that he had taken care of everything. All I had to do was get ready. We rode the train in Manhattan and went to a great italian cafe in the West Village called La Lanterna di Vittorio & Enoteca Bar Next Door (www.lalanternacaffe.com). They have live music every night so we opted to sit downstairs and eat while watch a jazz trio perform. It was a lot of fun. I have a whole new respect for drummers since we sat right in front and it was just amazing how many things this guy could do at one time and how many different sounds he could make come out of those drums...WOW! There was also a bass player and jazz guitarist. It was great!

Star Sighting...On our way back to the train last night we passed country music star, Steve Earl. For all you Tumbleweeders, we've danced a couple of his tunes back in the day...ha!

More pictures...

Bigtime Birthdays...Today Jacob celebrated his 6th (and Nikki's 36th) birthday. It was a BIG day! Julia and I brought cupcakes and ice cream to Jacob's class to celebrate in the afternoon. Julia had a great time hanging out with the class and sitting next to Jacob's teacher during show-n-tell and storytime. She had a hard time understanding why all the kids wanted her to sit indian style on the rug, though. She finally just crossed one leg and give them all a look like this was as good as it gets. Ha! Then since it was such a beautiful day, Jacob spent the afternoon blowing bubbles and playing on the front porch while his sister napped. He even made some amazing playdo animals. This was followed by a pizza party with mom, dad, jacob and julia. It was all capped off with opening presents and Jacob and Daddy staying up until 11:30pm playing with all the new toys. WOW!!!

Big Kids...Wow! Today, I got Julia registered for Pre-K for fall. It was so weird to have a youngest going to school each day. They were so organized but wild since I had both kids with me. First, you turn in your forms and proof of residency to the registrar, then, you meet the nurse to verify immunizations, health problems, etc. and then onto the social worker to schedule Julia to evaluate her social and emotional development. I can't believe what a good school system Long Beach has!

Super Dad...John went to the parent/teacher conference for Jacob with his teacher at school. Jacob has really come a long way. We are so proud of him. We still have some areas to work on but he has grown so much since September. He really amazes us every day! Day before yesterday, he came home with a list of books he wanted from the book fair. So, I sent him to school yesterday with $6. He came home and he had bought a book for his sister and one for him. He just makes me so proud. He is so loving.

St. Patrick's Day...We had a quiet St. Patrick's Day what with all the snow and sleet the day before. But Saturday night, John and Brona came over to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. Since Brona is from Ireland, she made traditional Shepherd's Pie. It was very yummy. We also had soda bread and some cake. She also brought over some costumes for the kids to play in. It was a really fun evening.