Amazing Kids and NEW EMAILS for Moms!

 

Depending on where in the country you live, Happy "Spring".  After scorching 90-degree days last week, the Sacramento Valley has returned to low-60s and rain for this week.  Just as well...our area somehow managed to skip our 70-degree adjustment days, so it's kind of like a spring "do-over". 😉

And speaking of do-overs, this is Amanda writing in for this edition of the blog.  Porter desperately wanted to write again; but seeing how I have had another positive COVID test for the second time in 4-months, I'm the one with spare time while I quarantine for a few days...on what is my 44th birthday, no less! After I retested this morning and was still positive, I did have a brief pity party...but then I reminded myself that I have the gift of quiet and solitude here at the end of the school year and now it's a great day!  My health is just fine, I have not suffered and my vaccinations are doing their jobs.  Please forgive me, however, if this post is not as entertaining as Porter might have made it to be. 😃

In other news, the boys and I would like to brag on Tina for just a moment.  After a somewhat lengthy process and 2-rounds of interviews (including a 4-hour afternoon with different stakeholders), Tina was officially named the next CAO (Chief Administrative Officer) of the UCD Mathematics Department last week!  While Tina's appointment begins immediately, the current CAO and Tina's boss for the last 8+ years, will be available to shadow and mentor for a couple months, before officially retiring at the end of June.  CONGRATS, Sweetpea!  We are so proud of you for your hard work and dedication to the department!!!  

Finally, after having Hotmail-emails for 20+ years (and dealing with all the jokes that came with having said- addresses), we have been forced to switch over to a different platform.  Please note our new email addresses below - we look forward to hearing from you!

Amanda: shortbeav@gmail.com                                        Tina: tdenena3@gmail.com

                                                                                                (please note the 3, added to tdenena)

Thank you for your continued support and interest!  Enjoy reading about our Amazing Kids!

AS & Co.

The New Year

The new year began a bit auspiciously, with Tina still having to isolate for COVID, me having a negative test on the 31st and then losing power at 7pm on 12/31, that lasted a full 24-hours. Forts in the den and a pup who cuddled helped little ones sleep through the stormy NYE. Fortunately, we also have a gas stove, so soup, hot chocolate, grilled cheese and some eggnog French toast kept us warm and sustained.  We had a belated, non-alcoholic toast to 2023 on January 1st and have been grateful for all the beautiful storms and rain received ever since!

The first weekend in January Tina and the Boys had a lovely date-night out with (Uncle) Ken and got to see the famed Broadway Frozen in Sacramento. They had a great night and I was sad to miss the fun (I was in Colorado having a very long-in-coming girls' weekend with a best friend from college)!

Yes, that is Garden of the Gods with snow. So cool!

After January 7th, life has been a blur!

Porter-man:

• Basketball began in early December and finished in early February. Porter was moved up an age division in basketball this year, which meant that a) most of his friends didn't move up with him (darn those Fall birthdays!) and b) despite it being a "rec league", he spent a lot of the season on the bench.  Like everything he does though, he gave 110% and never made anyone doubt his commitment to the team! Way to go, #8!

• The Woodland Opera House proudly presented, Disney's Aristocats, Jr.!  Wow.  That's our kid up there?!😲 That's our kid up there! 😍 Our entire family was thrown into theater life for 2-months, and what an amazing opportunity for Porter (including a promotional photoshoot!).  What a pleasure it was to get to meet and interact with so many new, creative and kind people in our community.  So much gratitude and appreciation to the family and friends who were able to make it to one of seven (7!) performances. Following the final performance and cast party, the poor kid was just morose for 3-days. It did not take him long to decide to start preparing for the next auditions in early June and sign up for a second year of the Woodland Opera House summer camp.  Well done, Mr. Thomas O'Malley!  Thomas O'Malley & Aristocat Photo Gallery

Is he not adorable?!

• Little League Opening Day happened to be the last performance day of The Aristocats. You can't ever accuse Porter of letting grass grow under his feet!  Porter plays for the Mets this spring; mostly an outfielder with an outstanding OBP (on base percentage), he did get to play 3rd base last night and record the final out of the game.  He plays with heart, and he's complimented by adults from other teams, for the way he's always talking up plays and encouraging his teammates to keep their heads up!  Well played, PJ!

At School Porter continues to work hard, be a good student and learn trombone.  Of special note this winter was Porter's first band concert in January, and the opportunity for his class to work with a rockets team from UC Davis. With just a month left of school, he and his classmates will have the first of several fundraisers this week, to help pay their way to 6th Grade(?!?!?!) Science Camp this Fall.

Super-Coop:

• Jiujitsu, jiujitsu, jiujitsu...say that three time fast!  While Cooper did fine with baseball last fall, you could tell his heart wasn't in it.  Then in the early winter, he declined signing up for basketball.  Ultimately, Tina and I just want the kids to be involved with something outside of school, that challenges them, gives them physical exercise and helps them engage with others around town.  So when Cooper asked in November to give martial arts a try, I sprung into research mode to find a philosophy and dojo (and monthly membership fee!) that aligned with our expectations. Enter Makoto Kai on January 2nd and a dedication from Cooper towards his new craft, like nothing we have ever seen from him before. <Makoto Kai Home page if you are interested>

           After the first month of commitment, he received his gi (uniform, pronounced gee). After 2-                months, he participated in the 32nd Open House of his dojo, giving it his all and not showing the            usual shyness that he has exhibited in new situations in the past.  At 3 months he took and passed            his first test, to receive his first belt promotion on April 17th.  Last weekend he participated in an        all day workshop in downtown Sacramento, as part of the national organization's annual conference           (AJJF).  He is absolutely dedicated to his 1-hour classes, twice a week...and don't even think                 about making him late (even though he could care less about being on time to anything else in his         life)!😏  We are so very proud of him for thinking outside the box and finding a new passion, to             say the least!  We are very impressed, Mr. White Belt, now with only 2 stripes!

Please check out Cooper's Makoto Kai pictures, including his Promotion video, HERE

• At School Cooper continues to excel in his academics, be a good friend and learn how to also be a good leader. He has adored his teacher this year and the big kid projects related to writing opinion pieces and doing a Woodland History Report; mastering multiplication and division, becoming a really good artist and getting to go to cool fieldtrip places like MOSAC in Sacramento.  In January he was recognized as an "Owl Star" for Encouraging Others.  Keep being you, buddy!

The Family Stuff:

• We enjoyed a delayed holiday visit from Margaret & Cliff at the end of February. Despite the rain all weekend long, we found ways to entertain ourselves, including hard-core games of Uno!

• In early April we participated as a family in the school's 2nd annual Golf Tournament Fundraiser. First time on a real course for the boys (other than Hole-17 at the cabin!) and Tina and I couldn't remember the last time we played.  It was a fun afternoon for a good cause, and we stunk so bad as a family, we won free private lessons from the 1st grade teacher's husband, who's a golf pro! 😄

• Aunt Myrna hosted us for a lovely, early Easter with family and friends, and we attended church Easter morning with my parents. 

• The day after Easter we hit the road on our spring break trip with the Villagers! Off to the great northern California coast, we had a VRBO for 4-days in Hiouchi, CA, while we explored the Redwood National Park and adjacent shorelines! Check out our adventure at: RCC does RNP! 2023

(Did you know that RNP is the ONLY National Park comprised entirely of smaller state parks?!) 

• Other than this little COVID hiccup, I've (mostly) enjoyed another year helping to teach Kinders how to read, write and hatch baby chicks. 😊 I'm so fortunate to get to be part of our school community in this way, and work with the amazing staff that I do!  That doesn't mean I'm not counting down the last 29-or so days until summer!

• Finally, though you've likely heard in some way or another, we recently said goodbye to the Sunnyvale house, where my parents spent 31-amazing years.  It is time for them to have a new adventure, so we welcomed them last week to a temporary residence in Sacramento, while they wait for the snow to melt in Nevada (on the north side of Lake Tahoe), in order to buy their retirement home. While still a little surreal, we all know this will be a great move for them in the long run and we will enjoy having them in our "back yard" for as long as they are here.