Our Christmas Saga

So this year my co-worker Nicole and I jokingly wished for the flu-diet to lose the few pounds we had put on with all of the cookies, candies, and other treats we had been forced to eat this holiday season (yes force! we couldn’t possibly waste food with all of the starving kids in--well you catch my drift). With Santa being so magical at fulfilling wishes, he brought be a small bout of the flu-diet on Christmas Eve, which has mildly come and gone over the past few days. Then again maybe it’s not the flu, maybe I am overindulging in FOOD. 

Asides from all of the holiday gorging, Santa and the Grandmas once again managed to spoil the kids. Ava lucked out with 2 scooters, lots of new pretty clothes, and her very own vanity (with all the makeup and hair accessories to go with it)---btw, she is putting plastic eye shadow and

 making me “pretty” as I type. She tried to make Daddy pretty too, but was pissed when he didn’t oblige. Come on Daddy…it’s just plastic. If you know Ava, you’ll know it’s not hard to imagine her actually getting “pissed”.  Anyway, she is in love with all of her gifts, even the purple jacket that Santa bought her from “Cross-co” 

On a side note, I took Ava Christmas shopping with me, only because she cried and threw a fit begging me not to leave her, and our first stop on our 3 hour shopping trip was Costco. I threw in this purple jacket/vest for her, some jackets for the boys, a robe for the hubby, and a bunch of the usual Costco stuff. Mind you she never even looked into the back of the cart, not once! Later that night I began to worry and wonder if she really was paying attention to the things “Santa” was buying her. “Ava,” I said as we sat down ready for bed, “what did we buy today when we went shopping?” “Ohhhh, you bought me a purple jacket, you bought the boys some jackets, and you bought daddy a robot, “she said. WTF?!?! Ok, it was fresh in her mind and she would forget. STML-kids suffer from it daily. So I thought. Christmas day Grandma & Papa come over for dinner and gift time with the kids. Grandma is asking Ava what Santa brought her for Christmas. First thing out of Ava’s mouth, “Ohhhh (yes she always starts her thoughts with oh), he brought me a purple jacket from Cross-co” Who would have thought?!

 Back to gifts-the boys made out with a scooter, legos, movies, clothes, hats, moon shoes,  and a ton of other toys. But the best gift was from Grandma & Papa-Guitar Hero…oh yeah. Let me tell you about my newly found desire to start a rock band in my spare time.  I tell the kids that they’ve reached their hour of video game play for the day…then Mike and I take over.  I’ve been thinking, when we get really good, maybe we’ll go on Guitar Hero tour and shower you all with our talent.

 Santa was good this year-perfect actually. Moving into our new house right before Christmas Aiden somberly said, “Santa’s not coming this year.” I was quite shocked. I asked him why he would say such a thing, and his response was “well, we moved and now he doesn’t know where we live.” Not a few days later, the kids and I were sitting down eating a quiet dinner when we heard sirens approaching our house. I quickly ran to the window (thinking to myself, wtf we just moved from Antelope) and to our surprise there was Santa himself riding on the top of a fire truck. “How did he know?” the boys thought. Regardless of how he knew, Santa now knew where we lived---and he showed up Christmas day! Yeah for Santa!! And Yeah for Guitar Hero….gotta end this blog and go practice my solos. 

When I heard the knock on the front door this morning, I turned over in bed and cursed the door-to-door "sales people" When I heard the knock 5 more times, I got out of bed pretty po'd. I looked out of the window to see who it was, and that's when I saw the river flowing from our driveway, down the sidewalk, and flooding the street. Hmmm, I thought, "that's strange it isn't raining" I opened the door only to find out that a water main had ruptured underneath our driveway, and was collapsing our sidewalk and driveway. An hour or so later, the city showed up (oh I bet they were mad when they got that call during Sunday football) and said they were going to demo our driveway for the next 5 or so hours. He also said he was going to shut the water off to the whole block for the next 5 or so hours , and to throw in laundry now if I had to....yeah, he actually said that. It's ok, my response came in the form of a look, which was enough to shove both of his boots into his mouth. Soooooo I guess we wont be going anywhere anytime soon....but it looks like we'll have a new driveway by the end of the day. 

goofy kids....

Sitting down eating some good ol' Top Ramen~

Ava: "Mom, I'm almost finished with my Tok Obama" 

Ava (to Aiden): "Aiden, there's Tok Obama on your face"

Mike, Uncle Bubba, and Jesenia are trying to site in the telescope up in Jenner~

Jesenia to Mike (reading the directions): It needs to be in the horizontal position

Bubba to Jesenia and Mike: Start off in the horizontal position

Aiden to ALL: "That's not horizontal, that's oblique"

We all just sat there puzzled before we realized he was right.  Mr. smarty pants!!

Trip to the Fire Department

Today was Ethan’s class field trip to the local Rocklin Fire Department. It was his 5th field trip this year, but my first! We walked to the local fire station this morning, and the weather couldn’t have been more perfect. The kids learned fire safety 101 from firefighters Rob & his partner. They toured the fire house, which included their really modernized kitchen, living room, bedrooms, office, and workout room/gym. Ethan got to actually climb into a fire truck…me, I wasn’t so lucky. But my favorite part of the field trip was when Ethan “accidentally” raised his hand and volunteered to race Rob at suiting up in full uniform. Of course Ethan won, but what a race! Ethan pulled on his fire pants, suspenders, coat & hat and bragged to Rob that he was #1. Can you guess what Ethan’s response was when I asked him what he wanted to be when he grows up? What a fun filed trip and great learning experience for the kids.

Apple Hill Face Painting

Just a few pictures to enjoy...the kids LOVED the face painting at Apple Hill.

Academic Update, T1

We’ve made it through the 1st trimester @ Rocklin Academy and I am very proud to announce that the boys are doing fantastic!! Aiden is reading well into the 3rd grade level and is very close to meeting his end of year second grade reading goal (100 wpm). The first week of school he tested at 100wmp, but that was at a first grade reading level. He has slowed down a bit, but he is being challenged at a much higher level. Of course reading and writing are Aiden’s strong points, so no worries there. Math has been challenging as well, but he is right where he needs to be. We really enjoyed Aiden’s life sized human body, almost as much as he enjoyed learning about it. Mike will say that Aiden’s shield of Troy and the Trojan War project were his favorite. They are stuffing their little brains everyday!

Ethan..…I pause because I am still taken back at how much he has accomplished in so little time. Before I get into Ethan’s progress I have to disclaim that he was home pre-schooled because he wasn’t socially ready for a classroom. His exacts words after the first week of preschool were, “please don’t ever make me go back” How could I make him? His lack of “structured” pre-school landed him with Mrs. Russ, our intervention teacher, shortly after school began. Ethan was a (very) small group of kids (3 to be exact) that did not know his phonics sounds (or reading for that matter!)-not one sound! Who would have thought that they don’t learn this stuff in Kindergarten anymore. After 3 weeks with Mrs. Russ, Ethan knew every sound and surpassed the majority of kids in his class. He went from a level A reading level (which is basically not reading a single word) to a level 4. His teacher said she has never seen such a drastic leap in that short amount of time. He has earned his nickname with her, “little sponge” We are also proud to say that Ethan was the only student who was able to identify more complex letter patterns, continue them, and explain them. This is something they learn at the end of the year, and he was able to recognize it immediately. The teacher thought she was so proud….we can’t stop bragging about it!

Both boys are doing very well with their academics. They also have the pleasure of learning Spanish twice a week and Art from their Art docents once a week. If you haven’t seen some of their art pieces, please check them out at artsonia.com. You can search their names Aiden220 and Ethan2350. They are some wonderful pieces….you may find a few framed and on our walls! http://www.artsonia.com/museum/art.asp?id=3684438

http://www.artsonia.com/museum/art.asp?id=4038948&exhibit=152796&gallery=y

So yes, we think our children are brilliant….but it’s hard not to when they are performing so well! :)

Aiden's Fall Ball Schedule

Date	Time	Team	Park	Home/Away
10/8/08 WED	6-8:30PM	Rocklin	Lonetree Fields	Away
10/10/08 FRI	6-8:30PM	CH Mashers	Saugstad 1	Home
10/12/08 SUN	1-3:30PM	CH A's	Robert Frost	Away
10/12/08 SUN	3:30-6PM	CH GEPB	Robert Frost	Away
10/22/08 WED	6-8:30PM	Rocklin	Lonetree Fields	Away
10/26/08 SUN	1-3:30PM	CH Mashers	Robert Frost	Away
10/26/08 SUN	3:30-6PM	CH Giants	Robert Frost	Away
10/29/08 WED	6-8:30PM	CH A's	Saugstad 1	Home
11/2/08 SUN	1-3:30PM	CH Giants	Robert Frost	Away
11/12/08 WED	6-8:30PM	CH A's	Saugstad 1	Home
11/16/08 SUN	3:30-6PM	CH Mashers	Robert Frost	Away
11/19/08 WED	6-8:30PM	CH A's	Saugstad 1	Home
11/21/08 FRI	END OF	FALL BALL

Please email Mike or Jesenia for directions to any of the parks. Hope to see you there!

Happy Birthday Dooder!

This post marks the conclusion of a very long day. We started our day at about 6am, a little later than usual on a school day. I had a wisdom tooth pulled this past Saturday (most of the day which I do not recall), so I was taking the day off of work to continue to heal. Anyway, I started my day finishing Ethan’s cupcakes for his class birthday celebration. Ethan also had his very first field trip today to Rocklin PD and FD. Last Friday the class tie-dyed shirts, which they wear on every field trip….so he made his shirt (himself) that he was wearing today for his birthday. Mike picked the boys up early from school and we headed to the Sacramento Zoo, courtesy of our good friends the Edwards (thanks). This was Mike, Ethan, and Ava’s first time at the Sacramento Zoo…Aiden and I have been several times. The lioness came out while Ava and I were standing there, and started climbing on top of her King. I think it was the most I have ever seen any animal at that zoo move. The monkeys are always entertaining; you could hear their loud “siren” sounding calls all across the zoo. Ethan was really excited to see the Zebras and the Giraffes. After some lunch and the remainder of our zoo tour, we headed across the street to Fairy Tale Town-a first for all of us. They have all the storybook fairy tales built into little “park” structures that the kids can play on/in. They climbed aboard the Giants foot from Jack in the Beanstalk, rode on Cinderella’s horse and carriage, slid down the barn slide of Charlotte’s Web, and climbed to the top of Owl’s House (Winnie the Pooh). The crooked mile was fun, but with Ava’s track record, she had me running very closely behind her. After a quick pit-stop to Toys R Us to give Ethan his “shopping spree” we spent the next hour or so building his new Indiana Jones Temple of Doom-IN LEGOS! I must say I did an excellent job….only having a handful of “extra” pieces. Of course they’re extra! The smell of chocolate cake fills the room right now, and we’re about to sing our last Happy Birthday of the night. Happy 5th Birthday Dooder!

For my babies

I Love You-unconditionally

Dedicated to Aiden, Ethan & Ava


The simple things a child brings
the giggling and wiggling
the purity and sweet simplicity
from their tiny words and gentle hands
the ring around the rosy’s
the catch me if you can’s
eyes light up to see your face
an enormous hug a warm embrace
no burdens, worries, or regrets
each passing day a child forgets
the impatience that they live without
loving you without a doubt
their mother, father you’ll always be
loving you unconditionally

mommy loves you more than words can say
her love grows stronger each passing day
sometimes the words aren’t very clear
but in her heart she holds you near
tiny babies you are no more
how tall you measure to the door
once tiny voices now so sound
in her heart she has always found
an everlasting, unconditional love



with love, Mommy (Jesenia Bomgardner)

Funny man EJB

Casual conversation over dinner
Ethan (to Aiden): what did you learn in PE today?
Aiden: we played this game.......
Ethan: So what color do you call your teacher?
Aiden: (perplexed look)
Ethan: Is he Mr. Brown, Mr. Blue, Mr. Green
Aiden: no, he's Mr. White

His name is Mr. White HAHAHA Still laughing out loud at this one. =)

Beauty school 101 in Mrs. Wilson's Kinder class

After-school when asking Ethan whose hair this was (hair in zip-lock bag)
Mom: "Whose hair is this?"
Ethan (very nonchalant): "Mine"
Mom: "How did it get off of your head and into this bag?"
Ethan: "Oooh, when I reached and felt my hair(motions to feeling hair), it just fell out."
Mom: "Ethan....why did you cut your hair?"
Ethan: "It was in my eyes."

Fall Ball

Practices are well underway for Aiden's 2nd Fall-Ball season. We practice in Roseville most Wednesday's & Saturday's at Saugstaud Park. The RiverCats (their team name this year) have their first game this Saturday at 8:30am. Once the schedule has been finalized with the remainder of the games, I can post a few dates & times-feel free to come out and cheer Aiden on!

GO RiverCats!!

Ouch!

Yes it's official.....we are looking for cute (pink) full body armor for Ava! Some of you may have already heard-a few weeks ago little Miss Chatterbox was doing what she does best (hence the name). Being not-so coordinated at talking and anything else, she slipped on the water in the bottom of the tub-and just like her daddy-didn't bother putting her hands out. It happened so quick, I couldn't catch her with my ninja-like reflexes. I scooped her up and could only see the blood rushing down from her mouth and chin into the running water. After the screaming, crying, and heavy bleeding seized, I was able to see that she had split her tiny little chin open. (just fyi...she didn't hit anything on the way down-that's just how hard she hit). I called the advice nurse because I wasn't prepared for another night in the ER, but they told me to bring her in "right away"-ooooh if only I could have given that advice nurse a piece of my mind! (if i had an angry face emoticon it would be inserted here)

Long-short, Ava cried, we sat, Ava cried, we sat some more, Ava screamed and threw a tantrum, I yelled at staff, Ava played on dirty floor, I yelled some more (louder this time)....and 5 hours later they dermabonded her chin shut. Dermabond is the new stitches-I wonder if I could have just used superglue and had the same results???

So we arrived home closer to 1:00am, slept a few hours, and played hookie from work. Glad to report Ava's chin is looking much better...but last Saturday nights fall-on-face-bite-upper-lip-and-bleed-really-bad-fat-lip incident was enough for us to start googling bubbles for toddlers.

Come again??

Last night during dinner
Aiden (to dad): "Can I have some milk?"
Ethan (to dad-in his silly joking voice): "Yeah, can I have some milf?"

Driving past Sierra College
Ethan: "Mom, isn't this where you went to jail" :o

Eating dinner at the Taqueria
Mom: "Ethan, what did you learn at school today?"
Ethan:"My teacher said there's no smoking in class."

Ava in the shower
Mom: "Are you ready to get out Ava?"
Ava: "No, I'm just washing my ass."

Office Depot shopping for school supplies
Ava to dad while looking at the pens & pencils: "Dad would you put that in my ass"
Dad: "WHAT!?!?!!?"
Ava: " Dad, would you put that in my ass!

We really need to work on her pronunciation of EARS (îr)! hahaha

And as Ava says it best... "See ya lata alligata....why cacadial"

We survived day 1!

Wow...what a day!

Most of our preperation for this morning began last night (getting three kids up and ready before 6:30am is not easy to do with only one cup of coffee flowing through the veins). Ethan seemed a little quiet on our drive in to school/work. It could have been the nerves, the early time of day, or a little bit of both. Mike came along for the ride so Ethan wouldn't be the only one without a parent in the morning. I was not only running around from 2nd to Kinder, but had to work with the VP to keep the school running smoothly as well.

Aiden...no problem. I lined up with him this morning in front of his class, and as the time grew near I asked him, "how are you feeling...nervous, scared, excited (tired)?" And his response (very loudly might I add), "mom, I've been to school before." He waved good-bye, walked in, and that was that. Of course I had to pop in during the day to try to embarrass him, but he made it look like he was the coolest kid there because his mom works there....hehehe What an old pro. lol

Mike was with Ethan in his class helping him get acclimated. I made it in just in time to catch a few Kodak moments, hear part of the good-bye story, and sneak an air delivered kiss to Ethan. My nerves were put to rest when my kiss was returned with a grin ear to ear.:) The few times I saw him through the day, he seemed to be fitting right in!

While the kids played and fed their bellies & their brains-I worked my boo-tay off trying to smooth out all of the rough edges (today was the first day our school has been in operation-EVER!) 4:00 snuck up on me very quickly, but man was I grateful. I couldn't get out of there quick enough to meet up with the boys to see how their days went.

Aiden made a bunch of new friends, as I knew he would, and Ethan surprisingly said he was excited to go back. I didn't get to have lunch with them today, but as the dust settles I'm sure it will become a lunch ritual.

We all survived the first day of school and will enjoy some pizza to celebrate. Hopefully their enthusiasm lasts throughout the year, and for many years to come!
xoxo Jesenia

New School

The boys start school Tuesday at their new school Rocklin Academy. I knew the curriculum was going to be challenging, but after just checking out the update of curriculum posted on the class websites.....holy moly they definitely have their work cut out for them!!

http://www.rocklinacademy.com/kindergartencurriculum.htm
http://www.rocklinacademy.com/secondgradecurriculum.htm

:o

Quickly Approaching.....

The kids are enjoying their last weekend of summer this weekend. I can't believe school starts in just few days. Ethan will be going to Kindergarten, Aiden will be in 2nd, and I will be swamped at work with 110 new kids & their families....and a MILLION questions. Hopefully I will be able to enjoy the first day of school with the boys, 5 minutes in Aiden's class, 10 in Ethan's, and so forth. I am really nervous for Ethan, but at least I will be able to have lunch with him (and Aiden) everyday. With only one classroom per grade level (k-4), all the kids will have lunch at the same time. I'm really excited about this! I'm sure both boys will enjoy their new class, friends, and teachers.



Off to go school shopping.....FUN!



/bye

2nd Annual trip to the Nevada County Fair

This past Saturday was our 2nd annual trip to the Nevada County fair with Grandma Valerie & Papa Lewis. The kids quickly got over the news of their dad not being able to go when I told them Uncle Ramsey, Aunty Jen & Ashley were going. Saturday afternoon-the weather was on our side- a mild mid-80s paired with all of the tall shaded trees made for a pleasant afternoon. Arriving, we immediately walked towards the goats and pigs to get a better look….stinky 1 ton pigs (yuck)! I must say though, the 1 week old piglets were just as cute as the cartoons make them to be. Not 5 minutes goes by and the kids are already asking, “When are we going to ride the rides?” It’s a good thing we checked out the farm animals first. 4 amazing corn dogs, some fried veggies, and a few beers later we finally made our way towards the rides. Aiden, being the thrill seeker that he is, couldn’t wait to ride on anything and everything. Ashley and Ethan conscientiously hand selected what they wanted to ride. Ava had her first roller coaster experience, but mid-ride looked at me very calmly and said, “I don’t like this. I want to get off.” It gave me a great laugh. She did however enjoy the cars that went around in a circle, at a speed much more suitable for her to enjoy. We rode lots of rides, drank some more beers, played a few games, got a ton of dirt on our feet, and had a blast. (And this year no broken toe) Another remarkable day in the memory books! Thanks Grandma & Papa

Aloha Ava

This post is most appropriate in PINK. Ask Ava any question, and 9 times out of 10 the color pink will be in her response. She's not a baby anymore....if you call her one, she will respond (quite seriously) with, "I am not a baby, I am a tiny girl." Anyone who spends time with Ava knows how well she can and loves to communicate. She has even given herself the label of "chatterbox" (cha-tuh-BOX as she would say it). Her late night conversations makes it hard to get to bed on time. Ava's current favorite word is "Aloha" hence the title of her post- courtesy of her Uncle Tim. =)

But this cute little girl is anything but....having two older brothers (which at times love to be boys) have given Ava the toughness to hang with the best of them. She's even taken the badge for the worst injury of the Bomgardner children- being rushed to the ER after ripping off her whole middle finger nail (OUCH). Despite the missing nail war-wound, she still has 9 pretty pink polished finger nails, and 10 pretty pink toe nails. This little princess wont hesitate to roll with her brothers punches (sometimes literally), but she always does it with her pretty dresses and princess heals on.

This girly girl loves to play with her brothers, follow her dad around, and help mommy with the dishes & laundry. We only hope that her strong willed temper tantrums are just a part of the terrible twos, and not a glimpse of what's to come (yikes). If the boys didn't give me gray hair, they are sure to start growing in now!

/floor

Ethan (dooder)

I've read, from a few different sources, that middle children tend to be the "class clowns". This stands true 110% for Ethan! His quick wit, goofiness, and comedic sense of humor keep the laughter flowing in our house......and sometimes lands him in on the time-out rug. It's hard to believe that it's almost been 5 years since he was just a little boodah baby. How time flies!

Following closely in his brother's brainy footsteps, Ethan is ready for the challenge of Kindergarten. He is very excited about meeting new friends....I have enough nerves for the both of us. A full day of Kindergarten with Mrs. Wilson will be a wonderful learning experience for Ethan. He will be able to show off how well he can already write his first name (and verbally spell his last), count to 100, and read & write all of his letters. Thank goodness for the advanced curriculum Mrs. Wilson will be teaching.

We were disappointed last baseball season with the news of Ethan not being able to begin little league. If they based it on skill and not age, he would have made the team for sure. He's going to have a great advantage when he begins next year...having two personal trainers teaching him year round has made his bat pretty hot.

Dooder (our nickname for him since he was a little boodah baby) has quite an artistic side, loving to color and draw....leaving us very impressed with both. Like his big brother, Ethan loves Wii, skateboarding, playing with his sumo slammers, and making everyone laugh.

Aiden

Child # 1, where do I begin....

Now 7, Aiden is wrapping up his summer vacation and getting ready to learn all about World and Ancient History at his new school, Rocklin Academy. Although this will be a new school for Aiden, we have no worries about Aiden making new friends (and girlfriends for that matter). He is going into 2nd grade, but is facing a curriculum beyond the traditional 2nd grade class. His teacher, Mrs. Crouch, is wonderful (I have been working with her all week), and is excited about having Aiden in her class. At the end of Aiden's 1st grade year, he was reading well over 100 wpm. He definitely shares his dads (and grammas) passion for reading!

While Aiden's 3rd spring season of baseball has come to an end, he will start playing his 2nd season of fall ball this month. Last season, with the Giants, he finished up the season on the mound, and at 3rd base. With the help of coach dad, he has really improved his game. We are excited to see how he does this fall.

Two weeks ago, during our camping trip, Aiden lost his 2nd tooth. The tooth fairy came all the way out to the middle of nowhere to bring him $5! Four days later he lost another tooth right next to the last one he lost....the missing 3 teeth in a row makes for quite a large hole, and silly smile.

When Aiden is not in school or playing baseball he loves to spend his time playing with his brother, riding his skateboard, playing Wii, and watching Drake & Josh. Where does he find the time?

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