Ethan's Open Mic Night

Ethan had his first Open Mic Night at Impulse Music Co. He sang Folsom Prison Blues. He has both sets of grandparents and a bunch of friends come to support him which was so awesome to see. He did so well. He's also started an Instagram for his budding music career and it's going great!

 

18th Anniversary

Fred and I celebrated our golden anniversary today. 18 years on the 18th. Other than taking the kids to Castaic Lake to play on the splash park, this is what we did:

We snuggled in bed together. 

We were both tired from our concerts the night before and were too tired to get ready and go out to eat to celebrate. So, this is what celebrating 18 years looks like. Hahaha We will celebrate another time but it was worth mentioning. It feels like we've been married for ages. Neither of us hardly remembers life not being married to one another. Probably because we got married so young. 

Well, we love each other. Marriage can be really hard but it's also so good. With anything, it ebbs and flows but regardless of what happens, we love one another and I don't ever want to do life without him. He's my best friend.

Here's to another 18 years!

 

Sara Bareilles

 My friend, Sarah, got an early birthday present... to go see Sara Bareilles at the Hollywood Bowl and she asked me if I'd like to come with her. I immediately said YES! We both love Sara Bareilles and the musical Waitress, which she composed. So, while Fred took Ethan and Caleb to the Gambler's Mark concert, I went with Sarah to the Sara Bareilles concert. Macie hung out at Sarah's house with her girls and Drew and Asher went to the Boyd's for the night.

Sarah and I grabbed dinner beforehand and had a lovely picnic before the concert in a little grassy nook we found near all the tables. It was delicious. Then they had Renee Elise Goldsberry perform before Sara Bareilles. Renee is in a TV show with Sara called Girls 5 Eva. She was also in the original broadway company of Hamilton. She even sang a Hamilton song!! After she was done, Sara performed with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. She sang all her big hits. I completely lost it and embarrassingly sobbed when she sang her song Gravity, new song called Enough and her closing song, Used to be Mine. I just cried and cried. This concert was probably just as good as, if not better than Michael Buble's concert which up until Sara's concert, was my ultimate favorite one I've been to.

She was so funny, so humane and just simply transcendent. I am so grateful Sarah asked me to go with her. It was such an impactful, meaningful and incredible night I will never forget. 

Gambler's Mark Concert

 Fred took Ethan and Caleb to a Gambler's Mark concert. Both boys have been wanting to go to a concert so badly and Ethan had discovered this band not too long ago and found that they were playing close by and tickets were relatively cheap. Asher said he wasn't interested in going but after learning how the concert was with the most pit and drunk people, it's probably better Asher wasn't there.

Fred and the boys said they had such a fun night. They were right up front and Fred protected them from the mosh pit. Fred said he had a drunk lady try to kiss him and was all up on him and that it was a crazy night. I'm glad the boys were able to experience a fun concert with their dad. Hopefully it's the first of many like that. They were sweet and took a picture because they know I want them too but all they did was take that one picture so here ya go...

Uncle Jake Visits

 Uncle Jake came to visit for the first time in 5 years. We were all so excited to see him. He brought his boyfriend, Ian, who is from Taiwan. He didn't speak English all that well but he did pretty good. We showed them our house, I made dinner, we talked and chatted and went out for ice cream afterwards. Ian had never had cookie dough ice cream before so we made him try it. 

It was so fun to see Jake. The kids all said he is so epic. Macie hadn't remembered him whatsoever so it was fun for her to essentially meet him for the first time. Jake says he's going to hopefully move soon to another country that is closer and easier to visit so he doesn't have to wait another 5 years to visit again. But it's been so long because of Covid and the strict rules Taiwan has for Covid and being in quarantine. 

It was a fun night full of laughter and getting to see Jake again. We wish he could be around all the time!

Happy 16th Birthday, Caleb!

 Caleb celebrated his birthday with his friends on Saturday, August 10th. We had a party at the pool for about 3 hours and then everyone went back to the house to hang out and they all ended up playing hide and go seek in the dark. The party started at 3pm and we finally kicked everyone out at 10:30pm! They all had so much fun. Caleb got a lot of cool things from his friends including records, shirts, money, Playstation gift cards and sweet handwritten cards. Macie made him a card too and put her own money in it which was so sweet. Ethan had a custom vinyl made for Caleb which he bought with his own money. Ethan, Caleb, Asher and Macie all love the Color Songs by the StoryBots (which is a little kids show) so Ethan had the color songs put on a vinyl and designed the front and back cover art. Caleb loved it.

Caleb's actual birthday was on a school day so after school, Fred surprised him by taking him to T-Mobile to get a new phone, something he REALLY wanted and he was SO excited. After he got his new phone, he decided on Lucille's for his BBQ dinner. I tried to get pictures but teenagers are not into taking pictures. 

Caleb at 16 years old is such a vivacious, full of life, silly, fun-loving, loyal kid & friend. He has a big personality & is always singing, listening to music, laughing, dancing and telling jokes. He is charismatic, happy and such a handsome boy! He continues to unify his siblings and has a kind heart. He really loves his people. Our family would be so different without him and we are so happy he is a part of our family. We love him so much. Happy 16th Birthday, Siffy Woo!

Ethan, Caleb & Asher's First Day of School

Today was the first day of school for the boys! Ethan started 12th grade, Caleb started 11th grade and Asher started 8th grade.

I've been dreading this day for a while now. I've cried a lot of tears over it. But today, I'm doing ok. I'm trying not to let myself meltdown into a depression over the fact that Ethan started his senior year today. I don't really know how it's happened but at the same time, it feels appropriate. Time is so weird. It all goes by so fast but then again it doesn't. I always love the quote, "The days are long but the years are short" because it's just so true. The day to day feels so long. Some days felt like ages when I was in the thick of it when all the kids were little. Some days were just so hard and more than exhausting and yet, the years ago by so quickly. It doesn't help that they change so much in such a short amount of time! But I find solace in the fact that I have been there for it all. I was lucky enough to be at all the firsts, every game, concert, event, party... all of it. I may not remember it all very well anymore but I know I was there and I did it all. And I'm here for this too.

This year will be a special year and so will next year when Caleb's a senior and Asher will start high school. I realize more than ever before how precious time is. How precious the time is when they're young. They are only young for so long and then the majority of the time you know and are with your kids, they're adults!  

I always think the first child to experience anything new, like this, is always the hardest. But who knows, maybe the hardest will be Macie because she'll be the last. I have no idea but so far, Ethan having big milestones have been the hardest because I haven't experienced them as a parent before so it's scary, new, different and emotionally hard. So, I'll be honest, this is hard. But I'm trying to remain positive.

Asher is excited to be the top dog on campus as an 8th grade. He's also excited to be with his friends Sharky and Connor who are now finally 7th graders. He's excited to take band and do drums too. I think he'll really enjoy Mrs. Pulhmann. Ethan had her and she's just so much fun. He says he's going to do video production for an after school activity with his friend Sharky so we'll see if that happens. It's with his old math teacher who he didn't really like so we'll see. Lastly, he is very excited about his new shoes he got for school. I hope he enjoys this year, makes new friends and has fun!

Caleb is excited to be a junior and in the upper class man group. He's excited to have a class with Miley, a girl he likes, and be able to leave campus if he wants to. He's excited to have his friend Jude with him at school and excited for swim season. He was happy to go back to school so he could be with all his friends again. He said he's going to miss having brunch with Ethan everyday after he's gone so I told him to just make the most of the time he has. He loves going to school with Ethan everyday. I know he'll do great this year!

Ethan is excited to be a senior. He and his friend Bretton got matching Minecraft backpacks. Apparently it's a trend for seniors to pick out and wear a little kid backpack for their senior year. I think it's so endearing. He was pretty excited about it. Ethan isn't doing band this year which he's very happy about. He will focus on swim, being with his friends, SCVYO and continue working part time as a lifeguard for the city. He is wanting to be Swim Team Captain this year. So, we'll see if he gets it! He isn't excited to graduate because he loves school and loves being with his friends. But I know he'll have a lot of fun this year doing all the fun senior things and having a easier schedule. 

Meanwhile, I'm going to try and make the most of this year and be at all the things I can be. Time is fleeting and as much as I wish the kids didn't have to grow up, I know they will so I just need to cherish the time I have.