M M R

Good Bye

2008-05-01T08:13:00.000-07:00

I'm giving up this blogging thing!

(at least for now)

It's really not that much time to write something about what interests me and my family, but when it is time to write something, it does take a lot of time (if that makes sense). I end up using work time to blog. I can't write it at home, because we have a 2 hour window from the time the kids sleep and when we (should) sleep. That block is taken up with cleaning, washing, laundry, and of course TV. Plus, my other time is now being used for photography and learning that world (click here.... shameless plug ;-)
Our priorities should be 1)God 2)Spouse 3)Kids 4)Church 5)others 6)interests. So, where is blogging? not here for now.
I'm writing this about me, and not what others can do on their time. If it works for you, great. I don't even know who reads mine anyway. Just Heather and Lorissa.
If you want updates, Call us!! Maybe in the future, I'll start a whole new family blog.

So, Adios, Sayonara, Ariva Derche, Chao, So long, Good bye.
The Lanceros

New Digital Camera.....(finally!!!)

2008-03-14T15:30:00.000-07:00

The Canon PowerShot SD-850 IS

Canon SD-850 IS
CNet Review

Finally bought a nice updated camera. We got our taxes back and this was on our list. What a difference from my old 3megpixel camera. Just lots of options to use without being overwhelmed. Awesome quality and great video with sound too.

Here are some pics from my gallery.

see ya
jl.

A day in SFO (feb08)

2008-02-22T10:54:00.000-08:00

Maya and I had a monday off from school and work. So we made plans with Gretchen's sister and her family to go to SFO. At first we wanted to take the train, but after adding the costs per person, driving quickly became the cost effective option. Hey, fun can sometimes be free, but not in this case. Anyway, we had a good long day.

Enjoy, and add comments! (positive)
Lanceros

San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge on a nice day.

We were outnumbered 4 adults to 6 kids (age 5 and under). Yikes! but fun.

Lots of fun things to see.

The kids were loving the pier.

This one was only 10 feet from us.

We went to the aquarium. The touch tanks were fun.

The underwater tunnel was really cool, and saw lots of sharks!

By evening, the fog rolled in.

First month of 2008 gone by

2008-02-04T15:33:00.000-08:00

Well, i thing the theme of January 2008 was "Sick, sick, sick". The whole family was sick. Of course, it started w/ the kids. Since Maya is now in K-school, she was the first to get it. Started w/ somekind of stomach flu (vomiting) for a few days. Ruby was sick(fever, vomiting) at the same time as Maya, at 1am! A few days later, it was Mason's turn, same symptoms, nausea, vomiting, high fever, cold sweats. Next are the parents. I got hit hard w/ the flu! Had to take 4 days off. It was the worst feeling, laid up in bed just waiting it out. I think the reaper was knocking at my door. Gretchen had it the least, if at all. I guess it's true that moms never get sick. Then back to Maya and Ruby, they both got ear infections (double ear for Ruby). More vomiting(on me) and high fevers.
Anyway, we're all feeling better now. Not quite 100% but close. I lost 5 pounds instantly, not that i needed to. Ramen noodles for diners are not so nutritious.

Next time, i'm getting the flu shot.

2008 New Year's Resolutions

2008-01-02T10:42:00.000-08:00

Happy New year!!
Hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Year's. 2007 was a great year for us, with the addition of Ruby. Lots of small events here and there, but really, everything else for that year was just day to day stuff.

So, out with the old..in with the new. The following is my list of usual resolutions. If i can accomplish just some on this list, then it'll be a good year. (in somewhat of order of importance)
Hopefully it'll last more than a month or two.

1. Read the bible in a year
2. More spiritual husband and family
3. Pay off our one credit card
4. Be fit (ripped, shredded, yeah!)
5. Make new friends in church
6. More thoughtful on dates
7. Ride more (hills)
8. Drive less
9. Organize home office and garage
10. Landscape yard more
11. Complain less
12.
13.
14. Blog more(really!)
15.

i'll take suggestions.
jl

Christmas with the Kranks....errr..Kempers

2007-12-15T17:23:00.000-08:00

We are here at our friends' house. We have known the Kempers for over 10 yrs. From single, to dating, to marrieds, and now with children. Our other friends, the Hannons, are supposed to be here too. But they are all at home w/ the flu. Here's a toast for you, feel better now. Oh, we mean, you feel better now, hah. We'll come to your house next.

Tri-tip and veggie kabobs are on the menu. Yum(for the tri-tip). Guiness is on tap. Presents under the tree. Kids happy. Fun times.

Luv ya!

Mason is 3 yrs old

2007-11-20T14:55:00.000-08:00

Mason turned 3 yrs old on 18nov (my same SB-day). The semi-theme was Spiderman, though he is really into Superman right now. We had it at our baby sitting co-op(thanks Gensch's), so easy no planning, no invite, no hassle. I know,... but that's what happens to the second and third child. When it's Ruby's b-day, she'll have a party in a McDonald's drive-thru (kidding!!).

Here are some more pictures.
The theme

The smile

The cake (on ice cream cones)

The gifts

The party

"A Day In The Life" with my wife

2007-10-18T13:19:00.000-07:00

Since Maya has been accepted into a spanish immersion school in Davis, CA (23mi each way), life has been quite busy(at least until noon). Early mornings with three very groggy kids is hard enough, then there's traffic, then after the drop off, trying to kill 4 hrs of time until the pick up at 12:15pm. So one day, I was off from work and went on "A Day In The Life" with my wife. So here are some pics.

A pumpkin patch and petting zoo just outside of Davis off Covell.

Smells like a zoo!

We had so much laundry that we just had to go to a laundromat to get it done!

(camera phone pic, large)

Fun for some(kids), not for others (us)

(camera phone pic, large)

Mini Vacation

2007-10-16T09:44:00.001-07:00

Monterey, CA.
Every year in October, I give a presentation for my work and one of the places it is held is in Monterey. I always bring the whole family with me for a mini vacation. Our highlight is the aquarium, but we can also fit an event at the beach or boardwalk. Also, we get to stay at Embassy Suites. The kids behaved pretty well for the three days. We just ran them down and they got tired by 7pm, and still got to watch our favorite TV show, Heroes.
Our next family trip like this will be in the spring08 in Pismo Beach area.

ps: I finally posted an update to my AsianArnold1 blog.

Click on the pictures to enlarge:

"Eventful" Entries

2007-10-10T12:11:00.000-07:00

Another late entry, but hey, it's an entry. Times get busy when you've got three. Sometimes, there's really nothing worth blogging, just the day to day life. Of course, each is different, but the routines are uneventful. So, here are some "eventful" entries:

Maya turned 5 on September 4th. At Chuckey Cheese with about 10 of Maya's friends and cousins, add parents and it's a big party. Thanks, Chuckey! no cleanup.

Maya loved her first real bicycle with all the fringes.

Mason and I went to LA in September for a family funneral. He had fun, considering the event.

Great to be with my family that weekend.
Luv ya Ma, Pa and Sharon.

Maya's first day at Kindergarten. She did really well. She's a natural leader, and adapts well. She is now transfered to a spanish immersion school(25mi away, ugh)

Labor Day at Funderland and Fairy Tale Town with the Browns.

Fearless!

Almost fearless. This is about all the roller coaster that I can take.

Thanks for checking in. Hopefully more soon.
jl

New adventures in......Camping

2007-08-23T11:10:00.000-07:00

Can you say dirt!! Lots of it. This is our first real camping trip as a family. By ourselves. For 5 days!! With 3 kids, 4yr, 2yr and 4mo. Yeah, what were we thinking. Well, we had one week off and no $$ and nowhere to go. Some of the prices on hotels where we usually go(Pismo Beach, and Santa Barbara) were $90-150+ for ONE night! Camping was only $25/night. So there was the reasoning, one night or five nights for the same price. I think we ended up paying more trying to gather and borrow camping gear and food for that week. Way too many trips to Wal Mart.

Destination: Lake Berryessa. Just 20mi NE from Napa, CA. Spanigh Flat Resort. Great place, just 1 1/2 hrs from home. Easy camping, open area, local store, marina, and.... hot showers and flushable toilets! That's right, ladies and gentlemen, camping w/ perks. The only way to go if you have kids like ours. Speaking of "kids like ours", the first 2 days were pretty rough!! Screams, fits, tantrums, fights, and more dirt. We had to move to a new location to get away from other campers w/ teens. Good for them, good for us. Much better after the move, and could relax. Saw lots more wildlife up on the hill. Third and fourth day were better, by fifth day, we were way ready to go home. Next time, only short weekend camping trips.
With all that, it was still fun.

Our site by the water. Lake level was real low.

"i'm sorry"

Yeah, Smores!

dirt angels

4 month old and camping. wow. She might have had the most fun of all of us.

PS: comments back on. (if you visit, positive comments please :-)

Summer 1/2 over....

2007-08-01T12:41:00.000-07:00

...and nothing to show for it(yet). Every day is pretty much the same. Routines are nice, but common, we need some adventure in our lives. I miss friends, and going different places, and building memories. Of course, we really can't do much bec/ of the baby, thing-1, and thing-2. We are planning a vacation in middle august, visit friends and head towards Santa Barbara or Pismo Beach(our annual vac spot). We might venture the camping thing, that's a might. More fun for the kids than the parents. Maybe we'll practice camping in the back yard for a few nights.

Yeah, that's the ticket !! heh heh.
jl

Nothing new (though still busy)

2007-07-17T13:55:00.000-07:00

(Gretchen and Ruby at 2mos)

It's kinda hard to keep this page up, not really. I guess it's easy to write a quick paragraph, but I feel like it has to be something significant, like a family trip. So putting up daily activities are not that interesting to me or anyone who reads this (not that there's anything wrong with that). So I guess that's why I don't really write too much. I've even turned off the comments bec/ I know there's only two (yeah, two) persons that read this (thanx!).

So anyway, our day to day has been centered around the kids. Take them here or there, try to get home in time for Mason's nap, find friends that have a swimming pool (thanx Sam and Norma), and try to stick to our budget(2 more weeks left of this month, eek). It seems like we're constantly cleaning the house or laundry or picking up toys or giving time-puts and disciplines. No wonder we're so tire by 8:30pm. Good thing our kids are asleep by that time too :-)

So, until next time (whenever)
keep checking
jl

Hola. Como se va!

2007-06-28T13:54:00.000-07:00

Buenos Dias!

(para los que hablan español, dispensa por favor mi gramática)

Necesito introduccion un poco para este blog. Yo soy Filipino pero no hablo Tagalog. Entiendo tagalog mejor que yo lo hablo, pero hay muchas palabras como tagalog. Así que es más fácil para mí a la transición en español. Yo aprendio dos anos de espanol en la escuela alta, pero no mas practicar despues por los muchos anos. Entonces, encontre me esposa! Ella habla espanol muy bueno. Ella aprendió en Costa Rica como un estudiante for los dos meses. La familia con ella no hablan inglés. Asi, necesita aprendio mucho rapido.

Entonces,.................. (still working on this. finish later)

jl

10 things I'm Grateful for...

2007-06-22T23:25:00.000-07:00

God and our church.

Awesome wife

Beautiful kids

Ma and Pa

Blue-eyed Mistisa

Friends

Cycling

My front yard

Playing in the park

3 generations of Lanceros

New Favs

2007-06-20T11:30:00.000-07:00

My last shot on this roll. Turned out really well. Surprised myself ;-)

A day at the races.

The place where I first asked my wife to be my girlfriend. awhhh.

Early morning. Very still and quiet.

Click here for the rest.
jl

Homeland

2007-06-18T13:27:00.000-07:00

My parents went home to the Philippines to visit family and one of my ailing uncles. It has been 28 years for my dad (and me), and about 12-15 years for my mom since they've been back to our homeland. Quite a lot has changed, much more metropolis in the city areas, and more resort hotels as well. But then, the poverous areas are always there too. My parents stayed for six weeks visiting friends and family from their childhood. Great trip. Someday, I, Gretchen and the kids will go there.

Somewhere in one of my hometowns in the island of Mindanao.

After 6 weeks away, my parents were really surprised at the growth and development of Ruby. She can smile, coo, giggle, hold her head up, and best of all......sleep for 6-7hrs !! Two months is quite a lot of difference for babies.

Everyone says i look more like my mom.

bye.

PS:
Just like Heather , i will turn off my comments. I do get hooked on who and how many will leave comments. If no one does, then there must be something wrong with me, right!?! aaaggghhhh!!

jl

Neighbornood BBQ

2007-06-14T12:10:00.001-07:00

So we hosted our first Neighborhood Watch block bbq last saturday, after living in the area for 1 1/2 years. I guess it was due. The turnout was great! About 80% showing for 3 adjacent streets. We met new neighbors on all sides, ranging from singles, marrieds (with and w/o kids), elderly, and everyone else in between.

A little history on this: There have been lots of unwanted activity in our area (North Natomas as a whole) such as stolen cars, thefts, burn outs, mischifs, and so on. Though not as much in our street, we still wanted to band together and fight crime. It's a slow process, but this bbq gets things rolling. Plus it was a great way to "meet your neighbor". Most people (not all) live in their homes for years and do not even know their "neighbor" just two houses down. People aught to organize block bbq's at least once a year.

Anyway, the real purpose of this bbq is for us to not be victims of crimes in "My" neighborhood.

jl

Updated Picture Gallery

2007-06-05T11:52:00.000-07:00

Pictures are updated in my photo gallery. I feel like i'm improving at each roll. Still kinda pricey to develop and find mistakes, though still cheaper than $400+ digital cameras. I guess that's the learning process in film photography.

Click here

jl

Photo Gallery site

2007-05-31T16:34:00.000-07:00

I opened a photo gallery at PBase . It's a working gallery so i will upload pics continuously. I'm learning a lot from the way others take pictures.

Check it out!! Jeff's Photo Gallery .
jl

More experimental photos

2007-05-30T09:52:00.000-07:00

I just finished my 4th roll, but have not developed them yet. Hopefully it will be just as good or better than the last roll. Also, this film thing is adding up quick at $8-10 per roll, so have to develop only a few each month. I have to be more selective on my shots. I guess that's where having a digital has it's advantage. Here are some more pics from my last roll:

"Purple pointing to Red"

"Up and Up"

Duck leading

"Frozen" water

Landscape park

Fishing
"Calm"

New Hobby: Film Photography

2007-05-24T11:04:00.000-07:00

So I have a new obsesion, it's photography. I have a co-worker who's very talented and takes landscape and weather photos. His work is amazing! and i'm learning from him. He (and others) say that the way to learn the basics is to use old fashioned film cameras. So I won (for super cheap under $100) a Canon Rebel Ti on EBay. The digital SLR cameras are just too expensive, so i'll get proficient on this first before spending the hard earned cash.

My first roll of film turned out way out of focused, bad lighting, over/under exposed, and bad composition. It was a disappointment, because i thought i had good shots. The second roll was slightly better, but still lots of shots lost. The third was considerably better! I was pretty proud of myself. Much better shot selection, composition, lighting, etc. So the following pics are from that roll.

Enjoy
jl.

Re-Update #2

2007-04-22T20:14:00.000-07:00

So it's been a while........again. Our friend Lorissa gave me a little nudge to update our blog. It has definitely been busier around the house lately and we're wiped out by the time the kids are asleep. But then again, we always make time to watch our TV shows(Heroes, 24, Idol, and Lost) I guess its all about priorities then.

So here are a few:

My parents have been with staying with us for 6 weeks now. They've been a great help with the day to day duties. The kids really love having grand parents around to play. It's great listening to stories from the PI and their travels. Now they are in the Philippines for 6 weeks, so the house is less lively(and less clean). We all miss them.

I took leave from work for almost 6 weeks!! Whenever i tell that to others, they are always amazed. I'm gratefull that i can do that. Anyway, I had all these projects lined up to do, but then each week went by and there were not much projects finished. We did finally plant some trees. It was haaaarrrddd work digging those holes by myself. Hopefully, they will survive, and give years of shade.

We had a chance to go on a road trip to San Luis Obispo. The 5hr drive turned out to be 6 1/2 hrs with kids, of course. Thank you for car DVD players. I gave a 30min presentation for a work related seminar, then we were off to play. Stayed at Embassy Suites, very nice.

We headed for Pismo Beach, the weather was pretty good, and not crowded on a tuesday.

I remember going to the beach when i was little. For birthdays, we would go to the beach for an all day party.

Downtown SLO was very cool. Lots of little shops and eateries. We ate at this "natural" cafe with lots of vegetarian dishes. Gretchen loved it. They had a turkey, so i was happy. Heather would like this place.

so, that's it for now. more later(hopefully)
jl

One Post A Day (#2)

2007-04-18T20:59:00.000-07:00

Bedtimes....
It's been 3 weeks today since Ruby was born, and 4 weeks since i've been on vacation. Her sleep pattern is relatively pretty good. She gets about 4hrs or so, 5hrs on a good day. Funny how all three kids are all different, how cliche. Speaking of our (other) kids, Maya and Mason have been rebelling on their sleeptimes. Mason has been skipping the afternoon naps and can barely make it to 7pm. Maya is not liking her "roomtime" either. Can you say Cranky??!!

The days are kinda running into each other.
jl

One Post A Day(#1)

2007-04-17T19:52:00.000-07:00

OK, since i'm not very good at updating this thing, I'll try posting one a day for a week. The posts may be long or short, but as long as there are posts(and comments). So here goes....

Of course, with the baby, it's been crazy busyin the house. Lots of people dropping off foods and/or visiting. Super thanks to all of those bring food for the last 2 weeks! Great idea to bring it every other day, and have lots of leftovers. Also, having my parents stay with us for 4 weeks have been a great help too! It's very heartwarming to see them play with their only grandkids. Makes us happy. The perks of taking off for a coffee anytime without the kids is great too!
Love ya Ma and Pa.

And then there were Three...

2007-04-04T19:54:00.000-07:00

It's been one week since Ruby was born. It's actually been a very good week. Ruby would actually sleep through the night, and we had to wake her up every 2-3hrs to feed. But each day, she would slowly wake up before the alarm. Maya and Mason have been pretty good as siblings. They want to hold Ruby all the time. Mason is more gentle now, though there are occations where he'll be distracted with another toy and he'll just jump off the bed with Ruby on his lap.

She does have what we call the "witching hour" where she would stay up for an hour or so, and that could be anytime(5am, 12am, 10pm...) it's different each night. Overall, she's a content baby.

Proud Lolo and Lola.
It's been great having them here from Austin. They only get to see their grandkids maybe once a year. They are having a great time.

2 and 1/2 yrs old!! He got skills! He's still being his usual self even with all the excitement here.

"Some" of my cousins from the bay area and LA. There are more of them. I love big family gatherings. We had a great time eating (filipino food) ,talking, and playing.

"Ruby In The Skye"

It's a....Girl !!

2007-03-29T08:45:00.000-07:00

Ruby Skye Lancero
born: 27mar07 (1:40am on a Tuesday) "Ruby Tuesday"
wt: 6 obs 9 oz
ht: 19 ins

Total labor was 4 hrs (not quite like Mason who came charging out in 1 hr 20 min) and no time (again) for the epidural. I give it to my wife who endured 2 natural childbirths.

My mom(from Austin) and Tracy were there. Tracy came at a moment's notice (11pm) and stayed until 3am.

We waited to find out the gender until the baby came out. So this made it exciting. As soon as she came out, we were all trying to catch a glimpse and we all cried, "It's a !" It's no wonder that we never decided on a boy's name.

Ruby was a pound lighter whan the other two. She seems tiny to us, but very healty.

Maya and Mason love her! They just have to get used to holding her not like a toy. Mason is pretty rough like a boy. They are getting better each day. Ruby looks like a mix of them.

So, life with three starts now. It's still sureal, but we can't imagine not being without all three.

Wish(pray) us luck!!
the Lanceros

Just waiting

2007-03-26T14:56:00.000-07:00

Today is my due date(26mar07), and no baby yet! We've walked, waited, whaled, and whined. The kids have been pretty good, thanks to Jeff's parents being here from Austin TX. It's really been good to see how fun the kids are having with the grandparents. Thanks to all my friends who are calling me daily to check up on me, hoping for me to have this baby already. I guess I should enjoy this time now before the baby come, because once it's here, life will be different.

So wish me luck!
G

Re-Update #1

2007-03-22T08:50:00.000-07:00

So, here i go. Just trying to update since x-mas time. Not much happening, just day to day stuff. But then, thrown in a toddler , a pre-schooler and a pregnant wife, then it's not so "day to day stuff" anymore. We are very excited to have another one. Waiting until the end to see what baby it is has been very different, exciting and "natural". It's so easy to find out, but this is really rewarding. Of course I want a boy, and G wants a . Either way, it's going to change our lives.

Tour of CA 2007. We were all so excited to see a pro cycling race come to Sacramento. There were so many people there and we had to find a good spot for us to see. We waited about 2 hours to see them go by in 30 seconds. But still fun.

"On the way" to our friends, the Hannons, we had to stop by the Jelly Belly factory! What a blast. We took the fee tour and got free candy at the end. Lots of fun!

G 38 weeks.

So, It's been a while! (again)

2007-03-14T15:28:00.000-07:00

I'm not very good at keeping this thing updated. There are lots of things going on, but no real time to update blogs. But then, I don't really think anyone is reading these anyway. If you do, i love comments(good ones). So, i'll try to write whenever i get a chance. In my next post, i'll write about our 10 year (OMG!) weekend getaway(w/o kids) to SFO, very fun!

see ya, hopefully soon.

Better Late than Never

2007-02-02T16:11:00.000-08:00

Great X-Mas and New Year's. Everyone was happy.

So again, it's been a while since my last post. I'll try to be more consistant (once a week), even if it's just something little. I don't even know who looks at this blog anyway. Hopefully friends and family.

So chime in and comment!

Just Pictures

2006-12-15T16:03:00.000-08:00

I took this picture from our bedroom window. It was a monday morning sunrise with ground fog. Very cool. It lasted maybe 1 minute, so you really had to be there.

Us in Lake Tahoe North Beach after church. Nice day in November!

Mason and his cousin (Donovan)'s b'day cake. Mason is really into Spiderman. This cupcake cake was a big hit (Gretchen's idea).

The petting farm at Apple Hill. These are miniture ponies.

Local pumpkin patch. Very fun! I even saw Corlis Williamson from the Kings with his family getting pumpkins too.

Holloween 2006. We had a lot of fun that night. I got a lot of laughs from my costume.

I'm getting pretty good at this photography thing! This is at Lake Tahoe North Beach.

My LuzViMin end of the year (2006) team ride. It's one of those times when you just realize an opportunity for a great picture.

more later!
bye

We're still here!

2006-11-28T15:44:00.000-08:00

So it's been a while, yes I know. The summer has been busy and now it's the fall, and still busy. It was a fairly uneventfull summer, just small weekend trips here and there, but definitely fun. Our big news is still the new baby (due 26mar07). Still not sure of a solid boy name, but we have our girl name set.

So the next few entries will be a recap of our summer.

Stay tuned. (if any that keeps up with this)
The Lanceros.

Need to update

2006-09-18T11:18:00.000-07:00

I need to update this blog. It's been 2 months. Hopefully this week.

keep looking
thanx

#3

2006-07-31T15:34:00.000-07:00

YES! #3 on the way. The baby will be due sometime in mar/apr '07. We'll wait to find out. (of course, i'd like a boy). We're happy. Life is already different. Two is already a handfull, three will be a circus. But it will be welcome.

:-)

Life w/ 2 kids

2006-07-26T15:47:00.000-07:00

It's been fun having 2 kids. Maya has really been a big help with Mason. Out of anyone, she really makes mason laugh the most. We love to hear them laughing in the car or the house. Maya will say or do something for a laugh over and over until it gets annoying. We always wondered how we would handle 2, but it is easier. At this trend, does it get easier with more? maybe. i can see why the youngest is always spoiled. I was youngest of 3 and Gretchen youngest of 2. I guess we are spoiled a little, life come at us pretty easy. Of course, there are plenty of hard times too. We couldn't imagine not having the two of them. Well, imagine....

...3

Few Updates

2006-07-13T16:14:00.000-07:00

Maya and Mason are being the normal toddler siblings. Mason(1 1/2 yrs) is on a screaming phase. Everything is his (in his world), he sees something that Maya is holding and just grabs it. If he doesn't get it, he SCREAMS!! It's been hard going to places with him.

We just have to protect his nap times and eating times and he'll be happy and cute.

Maya has been really good, considering. As the older sibling, she gets blamed for a lots of stuff, just because she "knows better". She's very patient, helpful and funny. She can make Mason laugh the most. It's great to hear laughter around the house and in the car. They're very close.

My cool neckbeads finally died. I've had this for over 5 yrs ! Gretchen bought it for me in Lake Tahoe, and it's on many pictures of ours and many travels. I felt young and suddenly adventurous wearing it(like putting on a cape), now that i'm in my mid-life. Finding a replacement will be...(pause) difficult. So long old buddy! Rest in pieces.

OK, back to reality. We had church at our house in the beginning of July. We haven't had much people at our house in a while, and with this many people, it was a little hectic. But it was very fun. The house survived, and the food-friends-fellowship were great. It's good to have people in our home so that we can focus on others and not ourselves.

We went to the Sacramento Train Museum with our neighbor Mimi's free pass. Gotta love free anything. It was the first time i've been there. I was blown away! Very cool. The kids were loving it. Mason kept pointing at everything, and Maya was running back and forth. Very cool.

Well, that's about it. I'll try to update more often.
Thanks for reading.

Grateful Friday

2006-07-07T16:42:00.000-07:00

uhm...

I'm here!

:-)

Father's Day. What else....Bike Race

2006-06-20T11:00:00.000-07:00

STEAK! That's really all I wanted. I get steak twice (b-day and f-day) a year in some fancy restaurant. We went to Black Angus (though not the best) and had NY steak which was very good. Gretchen and the kids had fun as well. It's been hard eating out lately with Mason having fits and screaming and yelling. Our last 3 outings, one of us had to take Mason outside to distract him. I'd let him scream if i could, but Gretchen won't let that happen. Hey, I pay just as much as anyone else to be in that restaurant, and I will enjoy our stay with kids or not. I don't care if people stare. But that's just me, that's not Gretchen. After lunch, we went to Old Navy nearby, and got some good deals for the kids. It was fun to see them playing throughout the store playing hide and seek and chasing a ball. Kids will have fun no matter where they are.
Onto the bike race. We to Nevada City Classic pro bike race that afternoon. Nice drive. The race was very exciting! Seeing the pros ride at higher levels that I ever will; Fast! There were lots of spectators, the mom and pop shops were very cool, and the outdoor restaurants looked relaxing. I saw and talked to a few friends that I ride with from Sacramento. When we left for home, we were very tired.
Great day, Thanks babe!

It's a Father/Son Thing

2006-06-14T10:12:00.000-07:00

There's something different about this relationship versus any other. There is an aire or pride that comes with being with my son, just slightly different than being with my wife or daughter. Not to add pressure to him, but he is the only male-born out of all my family to carry on the Lancero name. That makes me even more proud, only my dad might be more so. When I'm with my daughter, we have our own type of fun. She loves having "daddy-Maya time", sometimes going to get ice cream or mostly going to Home Depot. Mason is now starting to speak two cylable words. It's amazing how they just stare at you for over a year, then one day get it and start speaking. It's very cute when Mason says "tik-ku" for Thank You. On the other hand, he can turn on a dime and throw the biggest fits, mostly by 4-5pm dinner/bedtime.

Then all is quiet by 8pm.

Stereotypical Siblings- more or less

2006-06-10T13:01:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, my wife and I think about our first 5 years of our marraige, and how "free" we were. We did the typical young married thing and do whatever we felt like doing (along with the consequenses that comes with it, mostly fights and arguments). But we did have lots of fun. We were glad that we took that time to really get to know each other. We have friends that got pregnant right away, and they feel the effects of not strengthening their marraige as much. The kids then come first ahead of the God and spouse. It's hard to see one take sides with the child against the spouse. Children need order and boundaries and hierarchy. But that's just my opinion. The DINKs (dual income no kids) are long gone. It doesn't seem to matter so much, now that we have kids. We look at dinks now and think "they have no clue". It's just a higher level having kids and the instant feeling of responsibility. We can't see life without our kids now.

Anyway, on to the kids. Maya(3) and Mason(1). The stereotypes are now starting to come true in front of our eyes. You know it as soon as the words come out of your mouth, "You're older, you know better" When Mason cries, I yell out "Maya!" "Maya, you take care of your younger brother". The younger one gets away with things. He gets (almost) whatever he wants. and so on. We try to give them equal rights, but it's harder when you're tired and just give in. I can see why the youngest of three are always spoiled (like me, youngest of 3). We talk about having a 3rd all the time, and most of our friends have, or having, 3's. Then the stereotypes will really set in.

But we will break that (the stereotypes).

luv you M&M
-dad

Let the Wild Rumpus Start!

2006-06-09T15:58:00.000-07:00

This blog is for my kids, Maya and Mason.