Sunday, March 20, 2011

St. Patty's Day for James

The Day Before St. Patrick's Day...

James:  "Today we learned about these little guys that are really greedy and want to steal your money."


Me: "What? What guys are you talking about, robbers?


James: "No, those little guys that are really greedy....I think it starts with an "L."


Me: "Ohhh, realizing what day it was tomorrow...Leprechauns?


James: "YES! Leprechauns!! The are little men who love gold and you can try to find them at the end of a rainbow, but they live in green fields so that they can hide from people.  They are really sneaky and clever, even though I don't know what that means, and they wear green and are always trying to find your money."


Zanna: "Are you sure that they are real?"


James: "Yes, I think so because I learned about them in Kindergarten."

It was such an enthusiastic conversation and I loved hearing James going on and on about these little greedy men that chase rainbows and hide in the fields looking for gold!!! (I mean really, how cool is that?)


The next day at school (St. Patrick's Day), all the Kindergartners found "Gold" scattered around the playground equipment and grass and they each brought a baggie home feeling very rich.

James:  "Mom, if you go to the bank and they won't give you any money I will give you some of my gold and you can buy stuff at the store with it."

later that night...

James: "Mom, at school we made a chart with three rows- YES, NO and MAYBE and every child put their shamrock in the row about if they believe in Leprechauns.  I put mine in the MAYBE row, but now that I found the gold, I am going to move it to YES."


When I walked James to his classroom the first thing he did was walk over the chart and change his shamrock to YES.
I was talking to his teacher, Mr. Morris, at the time about something else and as I was talking I noticed Mr. Morris watching James change his answer and smile.


Mr Morris: "Wow, he just changed his answer.  I've never had a child do that before, that is very good thinking."


(I couldn't help but smile and have a little proud parent moment :)

James just needed some concrete evidence and once he saw the gold, it was a solid deal-- Leprechauns Live!

Sunday, March 6, 2011

time flies when you're having fun!

Here is a little update on the Francis clan from the last couple of weeks...
CRaZy HaiR DaY!!!
Chinese New Year Parade
All the kindergartners paraded around the whole school showing off their dragons and it was cute to see all the "big kids" cheering and clapping for them-- i love James's face here, so proud!
Saturday morning cartoons with Dad after the night shift 


Legos, legos, legos
We took a little trip down the Monterey Bay Aquarium with the Asay family and had a great time with other million people that had the same idea that day :) It was a rainy Saturday on a holiday weekend so we were expecting crowds, but let's just say I'm glad Dave wasn't there because I think he would have lost it!  The kids always have a great time together and we ended the night at Chili's with the best Avacado Burger I've ever had!


oh the faces of James...


Mia LOVED the birds and was talking non-stop to them..."Ooooh, oooh, oooh!"
the huge, dinosaur looking fish

our new favorite place to bathe Mia that doesn't break our backs-- i love her steamy head

peek-a-boo
Mia just got her first toothbrush and loves to brush with the big kids!

Yesterday I was lucky enough to get to be apart of my friend Meagan's 30th birthday party-- a 
"sail-abration" on the San Francisco Bay.  We had a sail boat all to ourselves (about 30 gals) and we motored out to the Golden Gate Bridge and then sailed back while eating brunch and enjoying the beautiful scenery and weather.  The Captain said it was the nicest day they'd had in two months and it was just a perfect day out on the water.
Thank you, Benj for planning this AMAZING party-- every detail was fabulous and you truly should teach lessons on planning parties!

Thank you Dave for playing with the kids all morning on only about 4 hours of sleep... this was a real treat for me!

Meagan- the birthday girl!


the flowers around Pier 39 were so lovely-- they reminded me of my wedding day :)

Zanna lost 2 teeth last week and now has the cutest, jagged smile on the block!


Here is our cute, little house with our beautiful pink blossoms. 
The flowers are blooming all around here and I am loving my walks and even went running for the first time the other day in a long time.  I was a little sore, but it felt great and I am excited to sign up for some races in the near future. 

I can't believe we only have about 4 more months to live here!


Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Happy Belated Heart's Day!

We had a really fun Valentine's celebration night with our friends and neighbors the Friday before Valentine's Day.  We all got sitters (we used the baby monitor for our kids next door) and ate a delicious meal of Cioppino (see recipe and end of post), salad, bread and red velvet cake for dessert.  The meal was amazing with all the fresh seafood-- king crab legs, scallops, jumbo prawns, clams and mussels and we played a little "how well you know your spouse" game afterwards that was very informative and funny! 
Thanks Peachey family!




(lame that we only have a few pictures)

The kids and I made a TON of cookies and had fun delivering them to various neighbors, people in the ward and they loved bringing them to their primary classes.


When the kids woke up I had a Valentine note waiting for them on the table to read during breakfast.  It was really cute to see how excited they were about something that really didn't take too much effort, but it meant a lot to them.  
Zanna read hers MANY times that day and the days following-- it's the little things that make them happy :)
Dave picked up some little gifts for them and it was fun opening them up after school.
 Dear Suzanna,
You a such a beautiful girl and we feel SO lucky to be your parents! You are a wonderful older sister and a friend to everyone you meet!  It is so fun to see you growing up and learning many new things that you are great at- drawing, monkey bars, trying new food, bike riding, reading and dancing. We love you SO incredibly much and wish you a very Happy Valentine's Day!!!
Love you Sweetie,
Mom & Dad
 Dear Jameson,
We love you SO much and are very LUCKY to be your Mom and Dad.  You are a special guy with a BIG heart who loves animals, treats, bikes, wrestling, fruit, your 'guys' and making people laugh.  Thank you for adding so much fun to our family and for all your GREAT hugs!  We love you more and more everyday and hope you have a Happy Valentine's Day!!!!
Love you buddy,
Mom & Dad
Dave even got me a gift this year-- a traditional box of chocolates, which I totally loved and freely took bites out of whichever one I felt like and then put it back with no stress:) AND a warm, cozy, soft, awesome, cools, pretty North Face winter jacket that I LOVE and never want to take off! He is trying to make sure I don't freeze my buns off in Idaho next year :)

Here is the Valentine that Zanna wrote to me a big, pink heart:
Dear Mom, 
Happy Valentines Day!!! I love love you!! Me and James and Mia are so thankful for all the work you do for the Family like make dinner, take us to school, buy us toys!
Love, the Family
 Dear Mia,
Happy 1st Valentine's Day, Sweetie! We are so lucky to have you in our family and LOVE you to pieces! You have such pretty eyes, the cutest round head and such soft, silky baby skin.  You make the cutest little faces with your new teeth and we are amazed by how much you learn everyday.  You have made our family so happy this year and are such a special girl. We love you Mims!! 
Love, 
Mom & Dad 

 Davey,
Wow! I can say that I have never been happier with us than I have been lately and am more in LOVE with you than ever!  I think we have both made some great steps in the right direction of selflessness and am SO grateful for you as my husband and friend.  I can't wait to spend forever with you & love all your funny quirks, your squinty eyes and huge biceps :)  Happy Valentine's Day- love you so much!!
Love, 
Melle
(I don't have a picture from Valentine's Day so I'm using an old, classic instead :)


For dinner we had heart shaped pizza from Papa Murphey's (our first year trying it- pretty tasty) and just had a fun night hanging out as a family. 
 
James's video skills...pretty cute!



Peachey Family Cioppino
Sauce:
1 lg onion 1 lb can tomato puree
1 bunch green onions 2 cans tomato sauce or 1 lg can stewed tomatoes
1 green pepper 1 cup white wine (optional)
2 cloves garlic Large can or bottle of tomato juice
1/3 cup olive oil ½ bay leaf
1 bottle clam juice 1-2 Tbl salt
1 12oz can whole clams ¼ tsp pepper
1/3 cup fresh parsley 1/8 tsp pepper
1/8 tsp thyme
1/8-1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
To make sauce:
Chop veggies and sauté onion, green onions, green pepper, and garlic in olive oil. Add clam juice, juice from whole clams (reserve clams for the end), tomato puree, sauce, stewed tomatoes, wine, and spices. Add tomato juice to dilute consistency, etc. Add all the spices and simmer for 1-2 hours. You can simmer all day, or turn off and let it sit on your stove until you are ready to do the fish. Bring sauce to a boil again just before adding seafood
Just before serving, cook and add seafood as described:
Seafood:
1 lb white fish (any kind works) – cut into 1 inch chunks and add to sauce 20 minutes before serving
Large prawns (as many as you would like) – Rinse and Soak in cold water. Drop into sauce about 2 minutes until serving (they are done when they just turn pink)
Clams and Mussels – scrub and rinse shells. Bring to boil in pot of salted water. Take out once they open. Any that do not open, throw away (no good). Put these in each serving bowl to pour the sauce over when serving.
Clams from can- pour into sauce to warm
Scallops – Cook in olive oil and butter in hot skillet until just done (about 2-3minutes per side, depending on size) Put in serving bowls to pour sauce over.
Crab (either legs or whole crab, whichever you prefer) – Crab is already cooked, so you can just steam in large pot to warm again and then place in bowl when serving.
Add 1/3 cup of fresh parsley to sauce. Serve with grated parmesan cheese and bread for dipping.
So Yummy!

Medical School Graduation

Medical School Graduation
May 20, 2007 Hershey, PA