Had some pictures from the past month that I thought I would share with everyone. Enjoy.

These two pictures are of the only the snow Antioch has seen in over 30 years! It didn't actually snow in our backyard but these pics were from our back door and of Mt. Diablo. It was absolutely beautiful to see the snow. It dusted not only Mt. Diablo but the surrounding low hills for a couple of days afterwards.

The Kids after McKenna's City of Antioch Holiday Delites Parade (for her Ballet Class). They got to see Santa and Mrs. Clause.

The kids right after we set up our 1st live Christmas Tree in 4 years.

McKenna and I getting ready to head to The Nutcracker at The El Campanil Theatre in Antioch.

Yep. Mason does not like Santa one bit. He is utterly scared of the man in red. So sad.

Here is the Burittozilla from Iguana's. This is Clayton's forearm.

This is probably my favorite pose of her while skating..so cute.

McKenna and I taking a minute out of ice skating to take a picture...

Christmas just days away

and The Peddy parents do not have any presents wrapped.
Sounds about right.

Today is the first day of McKenna's Christmas break (well and Spencer's) for two whole weeks. So far so lazy. Its 11:24 and the kids are still in their PJs. Well Spencer is naked but Spencer is ALWAYS naked so nothing new there. Its freezing and wet outside and somewhat warm and toasty inside. Howls Moving Castle is on the TV and we are about to make lunch.

We only have 2 days left until Clayton is home for a whole week and a half. We are so excited. We hope to plan 1 or 2 day trips but as long as we together that's what counts. I wanted to take the kids to see a lighthouse along the coast as I have never seen one up close. I think it would be very interseting and fun for them. As long as it doesn't rain or isn't really freezing then I think it will be a blast :)

Last week brought new and exciting adventures for McKenna and I. We both ice skated for the very first time. McKenna's school went for their holiday field trip and it was soooo much fun. McKenna made me so proud. She went right out on the ice having zero idea of what to do and took it upon herself to get onto the ice and skate. Not scared, not timid, not at all. She actually skated, though fell alot, but she skated and had a blast doing it. I didn't fall once which I was totally amazed at. I wasn't even really wobbly. I didn't skate fast but then you know I'm scared of going fast on skates or ski's. So we skated for an hour and a half had so much fun.

Saturday, Clayton and I had a blast with our good friends, Jon and Kelly. We headed down to San Jose for our double date night. We decided to stay over and come home in the morning which worked out wonderfully. We checked out a restaurant that was featured on the show, Man v. Food called Iguanas because it was home to the Burrittozilla. A 5 pound, 18 inch, burrito!! We had to try it. So we split it four way even though Clayton wanted to eat half of it. He was banking on my remaining 1/4 of the burrito to make him full but I ended up polishing it all off. Yes I'm a pig but it was soooo good. We chose the al pastor meat and boy was it tasty. Their beans are to die for...

Yesterday McKenna and I made our annual trek to the El Campanil Theatre in Downtown Antioch to see a showing of The Nutcracker with Grandma Susan and our friends. We made it a girls afternoon and got dressed up to attend this holiday must see. The show was beautiful and made even more beautiful seeing little girls and boys doing a majority of the show. Wonderful dancers. McKenna, of course my little me, was more interested in socializing than actually watching the show. Had to nip that in the bud but overall she did enjoy the show. Her favorite part were the little girls dressed like gingerbread cookies. And the little gingerbread cookie who shakes her butt. Of course.

Well I'm off. I'm off to make lunch, mop the floor, Facebook of course and at some point during nap time, wrap presents. Now I just need to find the energy.

Until next time all.

Christmas already? Really?

Okay so yes, its that time again. I have been reminded numerous times that I have failed to update this blog that I promised I would keep updated. This is just too damn hard people! Justin how do you remember to update your blog so frequently?

The realization that Christmas time is quickly approaching came slowly to the Peddy household. We started out great for Halloween decorations and then Thanksgiving came and went and nothing was decorated. We did head down to Grandpa Bob and Uncle Eric's for yummy Thanksgiving grub. We had Turkey, mashed potatos, green beans, rolls and pies..all the stuff you would want on a Thanksgiving table. Except that Mom wasn't there to celebrate with us.

I did get to visit with her though before I left. Dad took me to visit her and this time it was a bit harder than usual. Had a few tears. I have been missing her a lot more lately and really could have used her wisdom and her hugs. Mostly I would just love to hear her voice again. January 18th she will be gone 4 very very long years and its unimaginable how long that is. My grieving comes in waves though. Sometimes I'm doing great and then other times I just miss her so much it hurts. Thankfully I have my wonderful Clayton there to comfort me and to tell me its alright.

We all got to see the cousins and we got to see my sister, brother Sean and my brother and sister in law, Joe and Karen. The Friday after Thanksgiving was so much fun. All the cousins got together and played and went to the park and just had a great time running around. I got some great shots of McKenna, Spencer, Sophia and Kara together which is extremely rare. Will post at the end.

The Peddy's did finally decide this year to enjoy to a fresh Christmas tree. We do have our beautiful artificial spinning Christmas tree, however, this year we all needed to experience the beauty of nature and the wonderful smell of a freshly cut Christmas Tree. And we are thoroughly enjoying it.

Since my last post, we have added a new member to our family, a nephew to be specific. Ashton Kristopher Marshall was born on November 11th. We get to spend Christmas with him and get to really know the little guy. Can't wait. Apparently big brother Aidan is more than protective of his little brother and has already picked out which toys he is allowed to play with and which ones he is off limits from :)

McKenna participated in her first school musical. It was called Aesop's Fable and she absolutely loved it!! I was so proud of her. She knew the lyrics to each and every song and sung along so enthusiastically, it was so adorable. She even had a part at the microphone to sing a song with 3 other students. Exciting!

On an exciting Clayton and Stephanie front, we have decided to renew our vows. Come this March 7th, Clayton and I will be married 7 years and together 13 years. During the Thanksgiving weekend, Clayton asked me to marry him once again. And I couldn't be happier. These 13 years have been wonderful. We have honestly watched each other grow up, become college graduates, supported each other during tragedies, become husband and wife, become a father and become a mother. We have known each other since I was 19 and Clayton was 21. Have known each other a good portion of each others lives. What is so wonderful is this is a time to pause and reflect on where we have been and where Clayton and I are going. We feel it is also a wonderful example to set for McKenna, Spencer and Mason. Can you imagine a more beautiful scene than the kids watching Clayton and I joining hand and hearts as we affirm the strength of our enduring love? We can't either. We do not plan to have anything fancy just something very simple and small for us.

Hugs and Love to everyone. So the pictures are not uploading...dagnammit!! Those will come soon :)

Hugs to all

Update..

Okay so Kelly reminded me that I had not updated the blog in a while and realized, ya know...I haven't so I thought I would take this short minute I have while the kids are shoving food down their gullet to write these few lines.

Lets see....the Peddys ARE FEELING MUCH BETTER. No sickies for the past 3 weeks or so...now that I said that though we will be getting awful sick tomorrow but tomorrow is another day.

Let's see since the last time we spoke what has happened in the life of The Peddys?
4th of July brought fun and excitement as we spent it with our friends at Freedom High School watching the fireworks. Our first real outing with the whole family to watch fireworks and it was so much fun!! We got to go with 3 other families and have so much just hanging out as a family and with great friends. All 3 kids were so on their best behavior, we napped early so they could all stay up till past 10 and it was great fun. Definetely do it again next year.

Then on July 9th for my friend, Sara's birthday, Kelly, Sara and I went to THE NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK CONCERT!!!! It was so much fun!! All 5 were there and they looked even better then when they originally were out. wheww...

Clayton has been working really hard to get his built in bbq ready for Mason's party on the 18th and for the most part he has succeeded. He got the bbq tiled, stuccoed, and got the bbq put in. We have to do some final cosmetic touches to it like painting, putting the doors on, the electrical switches and so forth but overall it looks great. Great Job Clayton!!

Something quite cool happened, we found a FREE Power Wheels for the kids through Freecycle Antioch!! Full on 12V Power Wheels. It is old and dusty, a bit faded and says BARBIE Cruisin Tunes Jeep but the price was too good to pass up. The kids, LOVE IT.. Well, Spencer really, he is kinda a Power Wheels hog.

Mason quickly turned 1 on July 17th and he just keeps getting older and older. Will someone please tell him to stop growing? He's not quite walking yet but both other kids didn't walk until they were 13 months so we figure thats going to be the same with him. We had a great party for him. Good friends and family came to help him celebrate and we rented a huge waterslide for everyone to slide down it and boy can we say was it FUN!! Clayton and I went down it and the kids went down it, and went down it, and went down it, and went down it, until finally....they went down it again...we had this thing from 9-9pm on Saturday, all day long and the kids got great use of it. We have our famed 1st birthday cake pictures of Mason, he ate like 1/4 of that cake. I think he actually enjoyed it.

On Sunday, July 19th, Clayton, myself, my friend Sara and her husband Ray and sister Kari decided to walk the AIDS Walk San Francisco 2009. We had so much fun. We all accomplished the 6 mile walk and it felt great. Clayton and I got to spend some quality time together as husband and wife and not daddy and mommy and it was great. We got to drive the "fun car" into the City which is always a blast and just had a great time. Grandma, Grandpa Bob, Auntie Monica and Uncle Eric pitched in to help watch the kids that day so a million thank yous to you guys for helping us out.

Now its back to the daily grind of mommydom. We scored a free little outdoor playhouse for McKenna through Freecycle! Yes another great find! You have to look up your local freecycle because we have gotten some awesome things from them.

Bless be all and have a great week.
Stephanie and the fam

Peddy Update

Well...sick times are still present in the Peddy household. We cannot shake the sickies here and I am at a lost as to why they keep coming up each and every week. I can't remember the last time we have been healthy for at least one week.

The entire month of June the kids have been sick. There hasn't been one week in June where all the children at once have been well. I am exhausted, out of money, lonely and bored because of the constant doctor visits and the lack of social outings we have been had because everyone is always sick.

This weekend was a total wash. Spencer woke up early Friday morning with a 104 degree fever and was sick all Friday and Saturday with fevers up to 104.6 degrees!! Amazing. His behavior was 100% percent normal today, except when he went to bed his temp was 99.8...I just assumed he was better and let him play with McKenna all day and now I am worried I might have gotten McKenan reainfected....its never ending :(

Clayton was very sick all weekend as well. He has had a fever above 100 all weekend long and is still sick. Mason has been even sicker with fevers well above 102. Poor little guy we are hoping gets better starting Monday since they don't seem to stay sick very long with this lateset round of illness.

Today Mason waved at us for the very first time. I was hoping to get video of him doing it. He was too adorable. He would only wave to Clayton and had a smile on his face the whole time. Although he had a temp of 101, he still was so very proud of himself.

The bbq island is coming along very well. Clayton lost a whole weekend this weekend for being sick and we just hope it doesn't put us too far behind since Mason's 1st bday party is only 3 weeks away which puts us at only 2 weeks to finish the tile, stucco and put the actual bbq in..please pray for us. I have confidence in Clayton but worried so much about the daytime heat delaying us.

McKenna is still in her cast. She should be getting it off this Friday which she couldn't be happier for. She hates that thing. She is so incredibly embarrased of it that she hides behind me constantly whenever someone asks her what happened. We have to explain to her that just because someone asks her what happened, they are NOT making fun of her.

Okay, must go take care of Clayton and his fever and cough. Got to get some rest since I haven't had in any in a very long time. The boys have been waking up all night long the last 2 nights and hoping tonight will be better for me.

Hope all is well and we will talk soon.

Mason Finally Pulls himself up by himself!!

Okay so our little Mason, now 11 months old, has finally pulled himself up to standing in his Pack n Play..so yea for Mason !!

Here is a little blip of it.

June!

Wow, just checked and realized my last post was May 5th. Well I failed the test of keeping this thing updated. Oh well!!

Well lets see, what has happened in a months time with the Peddys? Lets go through the month in an abridged fashion.

First and foremost, McKenna is now an official Kindergarten student at the Antioch Charter School for the 2009-2010 school year. Wippee. She starts her first day at Kindergarten on August 19th. Both mom and dad will be there to welcome her and to drop her off... then the parents get to have a welcome breakfast which I think will be rather cool.

Lets see both Mom and McKenna came down with Strep Throat in the month of May. Oh such fun times to be had by all. But because of my stealth mom techniques only McKenna and me got it. Yet sickless times were not yet to be had....

Sad news was I found out that I will not be able to participate in the 2009 Team in Training Walk in SF in October. The trainings would be held every Saturday starting next week at 930 and McKenna starts Tiaras and Tutus next week which I would like to view at least a few times as well as soccer come August. Combined with training and McKennas team and classes, it wasn't worth missing all their stuff, as we never get those days back. So quickly how she'll turn 6 and then after that is 16 and she'll hate me forever. :)

We started attending Barnes and Nobles storytime which are held on either Mondays or Wednesdays. McKenna loves them, Spencer dislikes them. Well.. you can't win. Spencer likes the crafts afterwards if it entails some sort of food, which amazingly enough, 2 of the crafts did!! They read all type of books directed towards 5 and under. McKenna as usually the oldest, as well as a couple of other 4 and 5 years olds, but she still loved it nonetheless. Then last week we went and they had a Kindergarten graduation of sorts. For those kids going on to Kindergarten the storyteller gave each child a certficate and a full on book! McKenna got a Backyardigans book which was awesome. The only caveat was when she learned to read, she could come back and read it to the storytime group. Which I thought was not a bad idea.

McKenna is still going strong with Tiny Tigers, however, her current session is coming to a close next week with pictures and so forth. She learned a lot of great things in this class. I think she honestly enjoys the structure and the discipline she receives. She gets a kick out of "YES MA'AM". A new session should be starting soon, however, they are conducting them out of their new facility over off Contra Loma here in Antioch which is now an even further drive for us in the middle of the commute hour which I am really not looking forward to. So we will see how that goes about.

Then our biggest excitement of all happened in May.... Eric, my brother, graduated from CSU Channel Islands with his Bachelors Degree!! We couldn't be more proud of the guy. He has worked so hard and put so many hours towards getting this degree, how could you not be the most proud of him. I had a smile on my face that entire day, especially seeing him walking up the aisle in his cap and gown. Mom would be so darn proud of Eric, I just wish she was sitting next to Dad and I while we watched him..

On a health note for me, I decided to join Weight Watchers for a few months to get me started down to my goal weight. Woo Hoo!! I have about 20 pounds to loose from all my baby making days and now, since baby making is done, (WOO HOO), its time to take care of me and loose the weight I have been so trying to loose. So far it has worked out terrifically! In two weeks I have lost 5 pounds, and I feel great. I fit in all my old clothes again and I am just getting smaller. I have 20 pounds to loose. What I love about Weight Watchers is that its not a diet. It really a way of life. It teaches you how to eat correctly and in the real world. I have no pre packaged foods, except maybe snacks, but everything I eat I make myself as usual, I just learn what the portions are for everything which is my number problem. Its great! So I will keep you updated on that part.

The kids and I went to visit Buchanan Field Airport a couple of weeks ago with friends and they had THE best time you can imagine. We got play and run around in a viewing area and watch planes take off and land all around us. It was so spectacular. The pilots would wave at us as they taxi to the runway. The kids just lapped it up.

Since then the kids have gotten very sick with colds and flus. McKenna amazingly enough has stayed healthy and we are so grateful, but the boys were not so lucky. Mason and Spencer have had to have breathing treatments with Albeuterol and are using QVAR to help open airways. But for the first time in a while Mason is starting to feel better. His fever has broke I think after taking antibioctics which is a relief. He was getting 103 fevers and not even IB would break em. So we are slowly on the mend and we'll hope that everyone gets better and stays better.

Well its off to Costco at the moment to pick up some staples, but keep checking back for some updates to the crazy Peddy Baby Farm...have a blessed day.

Mason turns 9 months among other things

WOW how time has flown by.. geesh. It still feels like the day when we brought Mason home and look.. he's 9 months old.

Yesterday he had his 9 month appointment and his stats amazed us.

Mason ended up being 31.5", and 20 lbs. As with all our children, tall and slim. He ended up ranking in the 99th percentile for height which again, given their fathers height, is not unusual. But still amazing.

To put into perspective how tall Mason really is, take a look at some comparisons Clayton and I did last night:

1. Mason measured 31.5" at 9 months. Spencer is currently measuring just under 40" at 3 years old.

2. Mason measured 2 feet 7.5 inches at 9 months, while Spencer, at 15 months measured 2 feet 7 inches!! Mason is a monster!!

We think Mason will be a tad tall, however, hopefully Spencer will still be able to make 6 feet when he gets older. :)

On another note, Clayton has been really enjoying finishing up his built in BBQ. Poor guy just wants to finish it but every weekend is always taken up with some activity planned. So I decided to dedicate as many weekends as possible to Clayton working and finishing his darn BBQ. He is so close. The last two weekends were quite productive. He built a drawer for the utensils in easy reach of the bbq and is going to be finishing those types of things and then hopefully in the next few weeks he can start the tiling of the slate. He will definetely need for that, that unfortunetely I just can't help him with running around with 3 kids. So we will have to look around for some help. Maybe some friends and we can pay with Pizza and beer..

His goal is to get this bbq done by Mason's July 18th 1st birthday party so we can cook our delectable food on the grill. I do not see why not as long as we keep our weekends relatively open.

I'm really looking forward to a fun girls night out...in. I'm heading over to a friends house for desserts and a showing of Bride Wars. Its our early Mothers Day present to ourselves :) We loved this idea as opposed to going out to dinner and spending more money, especially in these tough times, and even better we can be at home and hang with everyone while watching a fun movie.

Anyways must go and clean the house, as that work is never done. We are counting down the days when we head down to LA to my dads house for Eric's College Graduation!! WOO HOO!! A couple of days of downtime, to visit with family and friends :)

Catch you all soon.

We're Backkkk....

Yes The Peddys have been off radar for a while but we are back, and hopefully, better!! We last left you with Miss McKenna becoming very sick without the faintest clue why. Well she had Strep Throat, much to the amazement of everyone. But sure enough, she got it. So after 5 days of antibiotics, she is better. yeah! The past few days was just catching up and getting her better so we can continue with our lives.

Over the weekend, Mason got to experience his first water play in the backyard and I think really liked it. He was playing in the water play pool and had fun! Pictures below.

But yesterday was a fun day. The entire family, including Clayton, (in theory he took off yesterday, yet was still working), to go to McKenna's Preschool field trip to Smith Family Farms in Brentwood. None of us had ever been other than Halloween Harvest time. We had been there 3 years ago when I was pregnant with Spencer and then the year before that and then after Spencer was born we started to go to Clayton Valley Pumpkin Farm which is just as great. So it was nice to see the farm during Spring time when the animals are in "full bloom" and babies are everywhere.

It was a tad warm but Mason was decked out in the double jogger, which by the way, was perfect for the semi rough roads we walked on. McKenna was so sweet because although her little friends were there, she kept her little brother with her and made sure he sat by her and didn't get left out of things. Sure enough Spencer had a blast with her. He loved being with big sister...


Lets see... what did we see? Well first we went into the barn and had a fun banjo playing time. The kids were part of a band and got to play with the instruments. Even Clayton got into the groove of the parents playing, even though he looked like he was being absolutely tortured doing it.


Then we headed over and spent some time visiting with baby animals. The kids held and petted a baby rabbit (very cute), and a baby bird of some kind. I missed the name. Both kids actually set them on their lap and petted them which I was happy for. :)

Then we went over to the bee and worm section and the kids got to see a bee hive and actually got to dig for worms, which was the best of all. McKenna found 5 right off the bat which wasn't good since everyone else had trouble finding one. Spencer looked hard but could not find those pesky worms.


Then Spencer's most favorite favorite favorite part of the day he says...... the tractor ride. Of course.. because someone gets to drive the tractor with a steering wheel. So he really enjoyed that ride and it was actually a pretty long ride. The entire length of the drive way and back and around to the general store. About 15 minute ride maybe longer. And we learned about a new type of fruit they were creating, a cross between a plum and an apricot.... a Aprium... gotta try it now because I am curious.

Then we ended the day with plant planting at the general store. Each child got to plant two plants, a bell pepper plant and a tomato plant. Even Clayton and I received a plant which was cool. Now I have to plant all 8 plants.... sigh...

Clayton got to end his day by visiting and seeing McKenna in action at her Tiny Tigers class yesterday which made her day. Oh boy how did she love having daddy watching her. She did really well even. Then we all stopped for $2 Smoothie Tuesdays at Smoothie King and indulged :)

Overall, that day was pretty nice. Clayton got to spend some much needed time with the kids and we got some much needed time with daddy. We couldn't have been more grateful.

Sickly kiddo

Well today of all days, the sun is out, the weather is gorgeous and what happens? Our very own daughter gets sick! Poor little girl. Last night after dinner she looked a bit off. She said she had a headache and her throat hurt a bit. Then she said her tummy was achy. So she rested and eventually went to bed, still complaining about above symptoms.

Then she woke up this morning and was almost in tears saying she still didn't feel well. Her tummy was still achy and she just didn't feel well. Then I felt her head. SHE WAS BURNING UP! Took her temp and it was 102 degrees. Oh boy, here we go. Let's try not to get any siblings sick because that would suck.

So we gave her a dose of IB and rested. She wanted to eat breakfast which I thought was odd, but who I am I to judge. So she had a small bowl of Cheerios and rested again watching Barbie movies. I took her temp around 930-10 am and the fever had broken. Woo Hoo!! 97 degrees. Excellent.

She was playing more, talking more, wanted to go outside and so forth. Then 11 am came. She started crying more and saying her tummy was achy again and she didn't feel well. So I checked her temperature at noon and sure enough her fever had come back, 100 degrees. No IB until 1 so we waited and she rested and watched movies. But she did eat a little container of Gerber ravioli's for lunch which is wanted.

Then 1pm came, took her temp and the fever was back up but to 102.5!! Gave her IB and now she is resting.. not sure what is the matter. But she is drinking water and resting. So lets hope she gets better. She won't be going to school tomorrow because unlike most parents, I like to have 24 hours once the fever subsides before taking her to school or around other kids.

McKenna is calling me, hopefully the IB is working... oy vey I hate sick kids. Especially when McKenna gets sick. She never gets sick and when she does its horrendous.

Until next time.

The Kids Saved the World

Well they did... sort of. The kiddos headed out today with their buds to the Stockton Children Museum. They had a blast! This is such a great museum for little ones. They have a full size fire engine, a real life Stockton Police Car and Motorcycle, an AMR Ambulance, a helicopter and a City Bus. All so the kids, can drive in them like real heroes. What was great was they had the corresponding uniforms for each. So Spencer wore Police uniforms, Dr scrubs for the hospital the AMR ambulance was backed up to, and Firefighter coats, boots and helmets. It was a great! There was a grocery store where the kids could do their essentials shopping and they even had a steak packaging machine where Spencer spent 10 minutes just packing up his steak.

They had face painting, a shoe store where the kids could try on tons of real shoes, water play, a shadow maker, and a TV news room. Now Spencer's favorite, aside from all the awesome cars and trucks he got to ride in was they had a Caterpillar Tractor and a John Deere lawn mower! HE WAS IN HEAVEN.....

So we did that for a couple of hours and the kids came home and I had quite time :)


On another note, McKenna had her Tiny Tigers class again today and she earned her 1st Gold Star for reciting her Tiny Tiger Creed. She even volunteered to recite it first. Very proud. The clip is down below.

On the Potty Training front, Spencer actually went to Tiny Tigers today with underwear on. A feat never attempted before in the history of Spencer Peddy. I was sick of changing 3 year old boy poop and I said no more!! So he had underwear on at quiet time and then through Tiny Tigers. I don't know if it was a fluke but no accidents. He stayed in the underwear until 6pm tonight until he proceeded to run around the house naked and watch Wow Wow Wubzy the same way. But I have to give it to him... no accidents. wheww... so we will try tomorrow again.
Now... I must go and have husband time and catch up on some our DVR shows. Ta Ta until next time and hope everyone has a blessed day. Here is a pic of the kids leaving the Stockton Children Museum...

Easter Day 2009 #2

Well today was such a wonderful day!! The weather was gorgeous, grandma and grandpa Peddy had a great backyard for the kids to run around and play catch and soccer around, and the egg hunt went off without a hitch. McKenna and Spencer even hid Mason's easter eggs for his first Easter Egg hunt. They did such a great job, they hid the eggs all over the yard and Clayton, as with Spencer and McKenna on their first Easters carried Mason around to each egg for him to get. He wasn't quite sure what it was, but he did know they were yummy to eat.

The food was spectacular, as usual. We had yummy sliced meat, lasagna, a delicious salad with pears and blue cheese and cheesecake with strawberry topping for dessert. Mason loved chowing down on the dinner rolls I kept stuffing down his gullet.

The best news of all came when Alison and Kris announced they are GOING TO HAVE ANOTHER BABY!! We couldn't be happier. I have been waiting for this day for so long. I am secretly hoping she has a girl :) tee hee. McKenna would her cousin no matter what gender, but I know she has a special place in her heart for a sister, so a girl cousin would be even better. Congrats to Alison, Kris and little 3 year old Aidan.

We got some great shots of the family today that we wanted to share with you. They came out really great of the kids. Such a beautiful day contributed to the great shots.

And one last thing. We were overjoyed today to hear that Captain Phillips was released from the Somali pirates who holding him hostage. We believe he was very close to losing his life and was happy when Obama finally decided to get up and approve something before he lost his life. Thank goodness he is safe and sound.

Anyways, thats about it for today. The Peddy's are tired and getting the kids to settle down and get them to bed by 7. But we wanted to leave you with pictures of today's events and wishin all those far away were near us today. God Bless.

Happy Easter

Before we head off to Easter festivities with our family, The Peddy's wanted to extend a Happy Easter to everyone. Make it a special day and remember to talk to your kids about why Easter is special. What this day really means. Contrary to kids popular belief this is not the Easter Bunny's Day, the candy day or the gifts day. Remind them of the true reason for Easter. Love to all and be safe.

Will be posting a few pics and video from the days events. Have a great day all!

Love the Peddy's

Easter Traditions

Well it’s that time of year again. Easter. Mason's first Easter at that. So it is a bit special for the Peddy's and Lucero's :) We cannot believe how the time has flown by. Mason will be turning 9 months on April 17th and that seems so amazing to me. Christmas seems like yesterday and I am already thinking somewhat of Mason's First Birthday party in July. Oy Vey!

Because I cannot avoid the heartache that I have felt lately, the case of little Sandra Cantu has really affected me emotionally. That poor little girl, ripped from this world in such a horrible manner. There is no excuse. To make matters worse, the woman accused of murdering her was the local Sunday School teacher. I have a hard enough time teaching McKenna the difference between strangers and people such as neighbors who don't seem like strangers, however we don't really know them that much either. To make matters worse and more confusing, now I have Sunday School teachers murdering little girls. I understand this is a very special instance but it made me think how horrible many people are in this world. I am at a loss and I am not sure where to go from here.

But that is why today was a good day. Clayton and his office team went to Glide Memorial in San Francisco to help serve food for those less fortunate than you and I. He had a great experience and we hope to do the same when the kids are old enough. We also chose as a family to dye Easter Eggs and share in the special traditions Easter brings with. The only thing I can do right now is keep these little kiddos close to me and be so grateful they are in our lives, especially during the quite often hard times during the day. :)

So here is a little picture to remember the day! HAPPY EASTER all and be safe and keep your loved ones near. We decided to do our annual Easter egg dying this year. Although last year we completely forgot to until it was too late and the kids were left saddened. So I made a vow to do them and they did all 12 with Daddy. We wanted to share a picture of them with their final works of art.

McKenna has become a Tiny Tiger

TINY TIGERS

So 2 weeks ago, McKenna became what's known as a Tiny Tiger. A class specifically designed for 4 and 5 year olds through The City of Antioch. They are taught safety awareness skills such as recognizing stranger danger, avoiding lure tactics, what to do if lost, immediate fire and earthquake response actions, and dialing 911. They learn they things through role play and age appropriate games. Plus what's even cooler, McKenna gets her own Gi (uniform).
What can we say other than SHE LOVES IT!! The cutest thing I heard from her is when she had to yell out "No Ma'am!" Hearing that from a 5 year olds mouth, I gotta say touched my heart. Now... just to train her to speak to me that way.. :)

Now one of the main reasons for this entry today. The first day of class she was asked, along with her classmates, to commit to memory certain items to repeat back to Instructor May. For instance, her full name, full address with city and state, her phone number with area code and both her parents first names. Luckily, she already knows every piece of this information, down to her area code, thanks to 2 certain wonderful, glorious, spectacular, amazing, intelligent, (hmm... sorry back to the task at hand), her parents. In addition to this information, she is required to learn the Tiny Tigers Creed. What Tiny Tigers believe in and what they strive to accomplish. If they successfully memorize and repeat it back to Instructor May they receive a gold star to place on their Gi's pant leg.

TINY TIGERS CREED

We are Tiny Tigers

Alert and Strong

Learning everyday

Right from wrong

We are Tiny Tigers

We know about strangers

How to be safe

And stay away from danger

We are Tiny Tigers

We have lots of fun

We always do our best

And we're #1

This actually took her 1 week to fully commit to memory. She was able to memorize all but one line of this creed, which for that I couldn't be more proud. She even volunteered by raising her hand this last time in class to stand up in front of everyone and attempt to recite the Creed out loud. She did it all but the one line. You could tell her teacher was so wanting her to know that last line. McKenna even tried a second time to say the creed and missed the same line. So we have been practicing and practicing... and this is what the end result was...

Filmed this morning

Musical Discoveries

So lately both Clayton and I have really been noticing a musical force emerging more and more in Spencer. Now we always knew that Spencer would be either our Rock n Roll Guitar player or our stunt driver. At least something with a steering wheel. Even if it was him mowing a huge lawn in a John Deere for the rest of his life. THE BOY LOVES TO DRIVE anything he can. We caught him driving his book one time to simulate a steering wheel.

However, lately, we have been noticing him with his guitar, strumming it like a professional. When he thinks we aren't looking, he's holding it like a real guitar (according to Clayton "wrong", I say no not wrong, left handed). Spencer is strumming the correct area of the guitar where the strings would be and then you would catch his other hand up top like he is controlling the notes. (Bare with me as I am not a guitar guru and thus am unaware of the verbage of such activities.) I must say the above mentioned guitar is actually a Wiggles guitar therefore there are no actual guitar strings to strum but amazingly enough he knows they should be there.

He rocks out constantly to Hot Potato from The Wiggles, anything that has music attached to it, whether its News, a TV Show or music on the radio. Spencer will stop what he is doing to rush upstairs and fetch his guitar. The pitter patter of his size 8 feet heard above us and you know he is looking frantically for his most treasured musical instrument. He proceeds to come downstairs and rock out, and even includes the famed side leg up while playing that guitar hard. He loves it!!

He will even show you how to play. He wants me to play with him often. Why just today he gave me his other guitar and told me where to put my fingers and how to mimic a real guitar player. "See mommy, I "cho" you." Classic Spencer.

So where does this take us? We want to put him in music classes but everything is so pricey. We want to encourage it of course. So on Monday we are trying out a music class free of charge, thanks to our wonderful friend, Kim, and we'll see where that takes us.

Daddy and Me Soccer

Daddy and Me Soccer started at Antioch Community Park this past Saturday, April 4th.

Spencer absolutely LOVES it and loves getting play with daddy and kick the ball around and learn this fun sport.

Daddy and Me Soccer goes through June 6th. So stayed tuned to see how much fun they have.

PICTURES

Mason James First Haircut - Lollipops Shop

April 4, 2009

BEFORE

AFTER

Stephanie's First Ever Blog Adventure

Well here is my first ever blog. A blog? I didn't even know what that meant until Clayton had to explain it to me. Everyone has one of these, its amazing. Well I thought I would start one today. The Peddys have grown so much since Clayton and Stephanie became The Peddys on March 7, 2003. We now have 3 beautiful (and stressful) children. McKenna, 5, Spencer 3, and our sweet baby Mason, 8 months. See look to your left, there they are!

My goal for this blog is to hopefully document some great things in this family. Great things have already happened of course, but the hopes is I can document more and let those who don't see us very often in our little lives and how we are growing and nurturing our family.

If I can remember to update this regularly you can hear about all the great things that are slated to happend to The Peddys.

For instance, McKenna will be starting Kindergarten in August. I can't believe it! I can remember when my water broke with her and its like yesterday, yet it has been 5 years!!

Spencer will be starting Preschool for the first time in August and Mason will be become my only child for 2 days out of the week. WEIRD!

McKenna is starting in a girls soccer team come July through Delta Youth Soccer League which I think she is really looking forward to. Spencer has begun Daddy and Me Soccer and absolutely LOVES IT!!

And well Mason, he is just growing a mile a minute every single day. Everyday is something new. He is standing up and supporting his legs when up against something which is huge for him.

So you see, there is so much to look forward to and I hope upon hope that I can remember to update this thing!!

I am going to sign off for tonight on my first ever blog but until next time everyone, tune in and you can keep up with this chaotic but loving household and get to know us a bit better.

Loves and Hugs