Double Eclipse

Hi kids,
Daddy here.  So we recently had a pretty cool phenomenon here in Redding, the rare double eclipse. I know there a a fancier scientific name for it, but I'm good with double eclipse. We met the Carters & the Resendez's at the park with our special glasses and checked it out. It was awesome! Here are some pics of the double shadows.

 We had a great time. I can't wait to spend more wierd solar events with you guys. I love you guys

Daddy

Mama's Day

Hi kids,
Daddy here. Well, the Mansfield clan just celebrated Mother's day. We got up and went to church and out to the famous Knights of Columbus breakfast that we all love so much. After, we did something Mama & I have been waiting for years to do. We went to Shasta Caverns! Ohh it was awesome! We had to wait for the boat to take us across the lake to where the bus would pick us up.

Once on the boat, it was a nice, cool ride to the other side.

When we got there, we rode the bus up to the top.

Beautiful sight for sure, but let's head in the caves. It's gettin hot out here.

Our tour guide looked like he was about 13 years old and when he told us about this one type of rock formation, "Cave Bacon" Jake went, "Awwwwwww". Very funny.  We left the caves and headed back home.

Happy Mother's Day, Mama!! Love you guys,

Daddy

Soccer Steve

Hi kids,
Daddy here. So Jake just wrapped up his first soccer season. He was on the Droids, and he did a great job. he scored two goals and blocked at leat another two more. Great job Jake! I can't wait to see how you do in the next sports season.

I love you Jake,
Daddy

Just like Daddy

Hi kids,
Daddy here. So I get home from work today & I'm greeted by this:

And she sayd "Look Daddy, I have tattoo's, just like you." Yep, half-sleeves of princesses, just like daddy. Hahah. I love you Iz.

Daddy

Festivus!

Hey kids,
Daddy here. Well we went up to Seth & Jula's house for our annual Festivus celebration. We had big fun while we were there. We only had just arrived and Seth asked you guys wanted him to put up a zipline. To which you said, "HECK YES!!" Mama worried but I told her you'd be fine.

Ouch! Alex scrapped up his knees pretty good. But fear not, Jake would do it and be fine, right?

Ack, knot in the face! Well trust me, you guys shaped up and had a great weekend. We took Izzy shooting with us and even let her squeeze off a few rounds of Seth's gun. Although when she said, "I wanna shoot the big gun!" We did say no! On the way back to the house we saw a big mud puddle and told Seth to drive thru it, which of course he did. The second big puddle we saw was about 3 ft deep tho, and we got stuck for about 20 mins. No pics or video of this event exist, in case we had to deny it. I'll post again soon. I love you guys,

Daddy

No more folding!

Hi Kids,
Daddy here. Well, The Steve-man went through his first Holy Communion, and did GREAT!

Seriously, look at that boy! What a good lookin dude, I wonder where he gets that from.

Ohhh, right. haha. Anyway, You did an awesome job Jake. Mama and I are so proud of you.  You didn't even make a bad face when you drank the wine.  You knelt down next to me after and said "Daddy, not a fan of the wine." Do you remember that last kid in line who took the 3-4 big ol gulps of wine? Jake, you turned to me and said, "That's a pretty big sip!" We went to Red Lobster afterwords, and you got sad. I told you to order the lobster pizza, and what do you know? Daddy knew it, AGAIN! You loved it. Patrick & Jane (your God parents) gave you an envelope with $50 in it and you shouted "FIFTY BUCKS!?!" Very funny. Grammie and Papa & Auntie Rose gave you a cross necklace and we had a great time. You did a great job, Jakie. I love you guys

Daddy

Mama & SteveO at Red Lobster

Patrick, Jane and Jake at Red Lobster

13 years

Hi kids,
     Daddy here. Well today Mama and me celebrate our 13th anniversary. Waaay back in 1999 Mama and I got married. I still remember so much about that day and how it was one of the best days of my life.
     Alex is at West Camp this week and Jake is having a tough time. Last night, poor Steve-O cried himself to sleep in Alex's bed and this morning he wrote Alex a note:

     On Thursday we are going to go visit and we are all excited to see Alex again.

     We also went up and saw Jake's pen pal Mrs Siverly for Easter. Her and her husband, Gene, have been married for 71 years, so Mama and I have a looong way to go to catch them.  Here she is with Jake:

We also hit the annual Mansfield tradition of going to the "Midway of Fun" in the mall parking lot. Tutu always told me "Those rides WILL kill you." As it turns out, they are pretty fun. You guys rode this about 10 times. Jake was not feeling real good when we were leaving. Tooo much gravity.

We celebrated Easter too. Had a great Easter Sunday, went to church in the morning, hit the quick easter egg hunt at school before going to Grammie and Papas for the big ol basket/egg hunt and dinner. We are so very fortunate to have such a loving family.

Kool April Nites is in town this week, so I'm sure we'll have many more fun adventures. I'll check in soon. I love you guys.

Daddy

End of an Era

Hi kids,
Daddy here. Well it's been busy as always in the Mansfield house as of late. Daddy had a birthday last weekend and you guys went to see Seth and Jula. You played in the snow and had a great time. Alex was given his first driving lesson and crashed Seth's truck into their house. Hahaha, oh man, Mama and me laughed a lot at that one, big guy.  It's Tuesday already and I've only got 4 more days left on Q97. I've been here for almost 10 years and it really feels like home. I am excited to try something new, but change can be a little scary sometimes too. As long as I have Mama and you guys though, everything will work out ok. We have boy scouts tonight, and I'm looking forward to see Alex in his new uniform. You look good, boy. I'll talk to you soon. I love you guys,

Daddy

Happy Birthday Steve-O!

Hi kids,
Daddy here. It's been a few weeks since I checked in with you guys. Let's see what's been happening in the Mansfield house in early 2012.
Well, Jake had to have a tooth pulled. Jakie, I'm so sorry that you had to go through that. It absoluteley broke my heart to see you in that much pain. I felt awful for you. I told you that it would not hurt because I thought they would numb it up completly and that was not the case. It can only get so numb before they have to go in with what is the scariest looking metal tool I have ever seen!  You were so brave and I am very proud of you for getting through that. Goob job dude.
Speaking of Jake, he also had a birthday! Our little Steve is now 8 years old. I can still remember the day you were born and all the stuff we had to do getting to the hospital, getting Alex to Grammie & Papas and such. I can't believe that was eight years ago. The family came over to celebrate with us and we had a party.

 Then, a few weeks later, Nathan and the Clickners came up for another round of partying for Jakie. We went to see Journey 2: The Mysterious Island with Alenah, Jack, Nathan, Alex and Jake. Then we came back to the house for a scavenger hunt. Jake got a bunch of Lego Ninjago stuff and we built it down stairs together. I do love building legos with you Jake. You have such a creative mind, I just love hanging out with you. I'll post again soon. I love you guys,

Daddy

Week at a Glance

Hi kids,
Daddy here. We had a busy week this week. I didn't get a chance to post all week. So I'll start at the beginning:

Monday- I had a great weekend with you guys at Abby's 1st birthday party. They boys & I had big fun jumping on the trampoline and Izzy played so good with baby Abby.  You guys are getting so big. I just love watching you play with your friends, even when you think we're not watching, we usually are.

Tuesday- Jakie didn't feel good, so I took the day off work and stayed home with him. I probably should not have let him watch Aladdin 6 times & play Star Wars, but what the heck.

Wednesday- The Steve-man scammed another day of calling in sick outta me but today I made him rest and get better.

Thursday- I had a remote and got off work late tonight, so Papa stayed with you guys. When it was time to go to bed, Alex did not have all his math homework done yet. I yelled at Alex very loud and said some things I didn't mean. I'm sorry Alex. I wish I could take back the anger with which I said those words. I meant what I said, but you did not deserve to have me yell at you.

Friday- Ahhh, at long last, Friday is here. Alex spent the night at Luis' house and stayed up till 5am playing Halo. After we put Jake and Iz to bed, Mama and me watched TV till she fell asleep on me. One day, I hope you guys have a chance to have the woman of your dreams fall asleep on you. It is truly one of the most comforting things there are.

Saturday- Mama & Iz went to the breakfast at St Joe's and Jake and I had a few hours to ourselves. I had such a blast hanging out with you Jacob. I don't get nearly the time alone with any of you that I would like, but the alone time I got with Jake today was fantastic. We went to Kids Kingdom and played tag and hide & seek.  I love you so much Jacob, thank you for being such a good playmate. Just remember, "Kids are always faster!" is a scam, haha.  We went to 5:30 mass tonight. Jake & I thought Alex was going to fall asleep, but he stayed awake!  I read second, which I prefer & after church, Father George blessed Izzy's Cinderella baby. Izzy said of him afterward, "That guy is funny."

Sunday - Busy day today, what with Jake's rock-fish project and Alex's state report coming due next week. You guys did great work for a long time today. I really try to tell you when you guys do so good, so I hope you know how proud I am of you.  We went to ShopKo and Alex got a Lex Luthor Lego set (which is awesome) and Izzy got a Aurora bath doll. After we put you guys in bed and Mama & I watched an episode of Castle, we peeked in on Iz and not only was she still awake, but she had gotten out of bed and changed her clothes and gotten back in! What the heck, da stinky?! Anyway, that was our week, I cant wait to see what kind of adventures we have this week. I love you guys.

Daddy

Hoodie Buddies

Hey Kids,
Daddy here. Hoodie Buddies!

I love you guys,

Daddy

Kickoff!

Hi kids,
Daddy here. Today is January 18th, 2012. I saw an ad on TV a few months back where this guy created a blog to chronicle the life of his little girl, and thought it was a great idea. I'll be updating this blog from time to time with funny stories and pics and what not, but mostly I just wanted to create it to let you guys know how much I love you and how much I enjoy spending time with you.

Izzy, this morning when I dropped you off at Rachel's you held my hand. Not like a little baby holds one finger, you put your little hand in mine. I wish I could walk that walk with you every day for the rest of my life. For a fleeting moment, I felt like no wrong could happen in the world as long as you and I were holding hands and facing it together.

I know you guys are growing up fast and want to grow up even faster. Just know that (even though it seems like it's flying by to me) I truly cherish and will always hold on to little moments like that.  I love you guys.

Daddy