Busy and Sick

I can't believe how long it's been since my last post.  Adjusting to working full-time has been a struggle for me.  As much as I LOVE teaching, I miss being home with my Jack.  But I am so grateful to have a job in this economy and I am incredibly grateful that he gets to be with my sister, dad, or Surya all day.  My first few years into teaching, I began to fear how I would be the teacher, mom, and wife I want to be.  As many of you who are teachers know, a teacher's job is not finished when the school day is done.  I remember going to bed as a child only to watch my mom begin her long night of lesson planning and grading.  Now that has become my reality.  For those of you who don't know, I landed a job as an Enrichment teacher at my nieces' school.  It is a private Catholic School literally 1 mile from my house.  I started out part-time in October, which was perfect, but then they offered my a full-time position effective January.  Now I teach small groups of kids grades kindergarten through 5th throughout the morning and then I teach 6th grade Literature in the afternoon.  I also tutor after school Monday through Thursday.  It is a wonderful little school and I actually have one of my nieces in my class!  I try to take everything one day at a time, but knowing I get to come home to see the most beautiful shining faces makes my days brighter.

Jack and I just got hit with the stomach flu...hard.  Luckily, Surya works from home and I have an amazing family who came and helped us out while we were down and out.  Watching Jack go through that was tough.  Oh, AND Jack's second year molars are coming in.  It has been rough waters in the Von Rosen house, but we are making it through the storm!

On a positive note, Surya worked very hard the past few months to get the backyard all prepped for grass.  He really wanted to do it himself and he did such a fantastic job.  Again, we are blessed to have such wonderful family and friends.  My brother-in-law, Will, came to help as well as our friend Ryan and my dad.  They couldn't have picked a better weekend either, we had 10 hours of rain yesterday!  Dixie is in heaven with her new backyard (and so am I now that I don't have to look at mounds of dirt).  I can't wait to get some new outdoor furniture and backyard toys for Jack.  It is going to be a great Spring and Summer!  Here is our new backyard:

We are hoping to add a fire pit on that circular cement pad there in the next couple of years.

We're thinking the owners before us had a fountain on the other cement pad.  We are thinking about doing the same.  In the far right corner is a big concrete pad that we will cover and place patio furniture on.  We also want to do a built-in BBQ.  Finally, we want to add a patio cover to the house.  Surya is looking into doing this himself.

Surya wants to make a gate here so we can enter the backyard from both sides.  This is where I want to put a slide and other backyard toys for Jack.

This will one day be the location of our garden!

Thanks for stopping by our blog!  I will hopefully post again soon. In the meantime, take care and be well!

Hangin' Out

Jack loves being outside anywhere and just hanging out.  We went to the mall and he decided to just hang out in front of Williams Sonoma (great taste). 

Bummin' it

I just want to people watch!

Giving the stink eye to somebody!

I will buy you everything from this store one day, Mommy.

Oh look...snacks!

Spare snacks change anyone?

Already chasing the ladies!

The 5-Year Mark

Yesterday Surya and I celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary.  My wonderful parents came over to babysit Mr. Jack and our Dixie girl, of course, while we went out to enjoy Temecula's nightlife, a new thing for us.  We saw the movie, "Crazy, Stupid, Love" which I highly recommend for any Michael Scott fans out there.  After the movie, we headed to Old Town to have dinner at a great spot called The Public House.  While we waited an hour for our table, we went across the street to a wine tasting bar...I love living in wine country!  Everywhere we turned, there was live music and giant crowds of people!  It was fabuloso!

It meant a lot to Surya and I to be able to go out this year to celebrate.   This time last year, Jack was all of a week and a half old and Surya and I were so sleep deprived from being new parents and moving that we didn't even remember that it was our anniversary!  Five years of marriage and a decade together have passed in a flash, but we are so grateful for wonderful memories and great times.

You come to love not by finding the perfect person, but by seeing an imperfect person perfectly. 

~Sam Keen 

August 5, 2006
Pismo Beach, California

August 5, 2011
Temecula, California 

Cheers to a wonderful 5 years of marriage and a decade together!

Havin' Fun & Belly Laughin'

Just for fun...I love hearing my baby laugh!

Jack taking a ride in the new beach bag.

Our friend Ryan has been staying with us since September, and Jack has developed a strong friendship with him.  He LOVES Ryan.  When he hears his voice, he goes looking for him.  He will often "sneak" into his room and just sit quietly listening to Ryan play the guitar.  Oh, and everything Ryan does is hilarious to Jack!  Ryan often assists me on diaper changes by keeping Jack amused so I can change that squirmy wormy!

Playing with his cousins.

I Am A Honeybee

Click here to play music to go with this post

(you'll have to have 2 pages open to keep the music playing)

 As many of you know, Surya and I bought an amazing house out here in Temecula with a HUGE lot.  Since it was a short sale, the yard was/is atrocious!  Surya has been very hard at work and the front yard is starting to take shape.  We just put in grass and Surya planted me a bunch of flowers and ordered me some patio furniture for our porch.  We still have a long way to go, but we are surely on our way! 

Before

After

So why the honeybee title and music, you ask?  Well, when we first moved in, we had bees flying around the columns, so the bank paid someone to come out and spray.  We have noticed that the bees are back, but we really didn't want to kill them, but there are so many of them we are not able to enjoy our new front yard.  So Surya called a place that relocates the hive and they suggested that we open up the columns to remove the old hive and discard of the carcasses left behind from the first time they sprayed.  That should make the bees go away.  So Surya opened up the column this morning and this is what he found:

YIKES!!

They ate through the paper.

Hundreds,

and hundreds,

and hundreds of bees!

Some are alive and some are the remains from the first time we sprayed.  Fortunately, Surya had a moment of clarity in his shock and confusion this morning as he walked outside with a plastic bag telling me we was going to grab the Queen, and decided to call in professionals.  We REALLY wanted to just relocate them, but they said when they live in a column like this, they are very aggressive.  

Awww...the joys of home ownership!

Daddy's Boy

Some of you may remember some of these photos of Jack and Surya from way back, almost 9 months ago.  Well, not much has changed around here.  These two are two peas in a pod and as a mother it is so precious to watch them pal around.  Jack follows Surya around and is usually attached to his hip (literally).  I hope their bond stays strong throughout the years to come.

Where's my Daddy?

   

Surya went outside for a minute and Jack crawled over to the door so he could see him.

Daddy teaching Jack how to cheat play UNO.

Don't look at my cards, Daddy!

Let's deal them out!

I can't go, I have to pick a card.

UNO!

Maybe we should invite Dixie to play!

Or not!

 

Maddie the Performer

My niece Maddie is the one of the sweetest and most beautiful young ladies I have ever met (I may be a little biased as her godmother, but whatever).  She is so quiet and a bit on the shy side, so you would never know in meeting her that this girl can sing!  She won a singing competition back in September and she is now headed to Nashville, Tennessee this weekend to sing in a bigger competition at the Grand Ole' Opry!   She is only 10 years old!  Needless to say, her entire family is so very proud of her!  We attended a fund-raising dinner for her Sunday night where she, once again, amazed us all with her beautiful and powerful voice.  We had a fabulous time!  And Jack?....even though he was out way past his bedtime, he partied like the animal he is!  He absolutely adores his girly cousins!

Miss Madeline Lee

Not an ounce of stage fright!

Lilly and Alexa rockin' out to Maddie's song.

Papa getting into the country spirit!  I also now realize where Jack's large head circumference comes from!

Another Busy Week!

Whew!  Last week was fun and busy!  Here are some of the things we were up to:

Jack found a friend in the mirror and is trying to crawl.  He can go up on all fours and push himself back and forth, but has not yet successfully made the leap forward.  I take that back, he did take a leap forward, but fell flat on his face!  It should be any day now!

Hi friend!

 Jack being his usual cute and energetic self.

Hi Mommy!  I'm getting ready to crawl!

Jack got some new threads and we had a photo session.  That face kills me!

Strike a pose!

Oh, we're not done?

Should I pretend to be walking down the street?

Getting grumpy...

And grumpier...

Oh!  There's my happy boy!

We were finally able to cheer Surya on at one his soccer games!

Jack cheered when there wasn't something in his mouth...in other  words, not very often.

Decked out in the appropriate attire.

 I finished some more onesies.  Surya draws the design I want and then I make the applique out of fabric and felt.

I like this one, Mom! 

Cute little giraffe.

Goin' to the beach.

We hope everyone had a great Superbowl Sunday!  Have a great week!

What A Week!

We had an action-packed, fun filled week!  Here are some of the things we were up to:

Jack and Daddy worked hard planting palm trees in the yard.

Let's get to work Daddy!

 We had a birthday party for my mom.  Chef Surya slaved in the kitchen making carnitas, chicken tortilla soup, and sangria, all from scratch!  I am one lucky woman!

Yummy!

 Happy Birthday Nana!

Jack loves the ladies (and Papa)!

The girls

 Jack moved on to Stage 2 solids!  He now turns up his nose to "baby" foods such as apples and bananas.  Bring on the Farmer's Market Vegetable Medley with Harvest Grains and Banana Peach Granola!

Feed me Seymour!

 Jack was Jack as usual...full of energy!

Put the camera down, Mom, and let's play!

Another week down.  Time is flying by too quickly!  I hope everyone enjoys the rest of their weekend!  Surya, Jack and I will be having a day of rest tomorrow!