Ruiz Family

I Almost Forgot How to Blog

2010-02-12T12:53:00.000-08:00

Ellie loves to color. On anything:

Humm.... Mustachio!

My sister Robin is so creative. She inspires me to be crafty! Here is the super cute hair-do she gave Ellie the other day. I love having her watch Ellie. She always comes back cuter than I left her! (Robin made the bows too by the way)

It's that Time of Year Again!

2009-09-06T21:07:00.001-07:00

Back to school!

Isobel, Ian and I have enjoyed the beautiful weather so far this year and have taken our bikes to school almost every day! The kids are happy so far at school. Ellie misses her siblings all day though and calls for them all over the house. She has learned how to say school(cool).

Vegas

2009-09-06T16:45:00.000-07:00

N9ne(nine)the delicious steak house we went to with work.

In front of our hotel, the Bellagio. Wow, we've got fountains.

They personalized out 4th desert plate at L'Atalier!

Mike and I were able to sneak away to Vegas for the last weekend before school stared. Lynette was great enough to watch Isobel and (still breastfeeding) Ellie and Ian had a blast with his cousin at my mom's house. So with the children taken care of... It was so much fun to get away just Mike and I! We went to see Penn and Teller. It was pretty cool. At one point, Penn threw a foil ball into the audience and Mike caught it! We also went to "O". The cirque du soleil show. It was actually really cool(did you hear that Kacy?)! The stage was a pool and people exited stage down! They went under the water and disappeared! Also very cool, Mike and I celebrated our 11th anniversary at L'Atalier de Joel Robuchon an amazing experience. We did the tasting menu. I didn't understand the lingo on the menu and ended up eating muscles(amazingly seasoned-the sous chef took about 10 minutes sprinkling herbs and spices evenly over it), squid(chewy), clams(tasted like the smell of Monterey), and foie gras(actually I enjoyed the smooth and rich texture of the duck liver. It was in a ravioli and the foie gras burst out into your mouth and it was amazing). And last, but not least, the last night I tried my hand at Craps and won $500.00! Lucky! The table guy happened to be helping me too. That might have had something to do with it :) .

Things I've Found in Ellie's Nose

2009-07-28T22:09:00.000-07:00

*blanket fuzz

*toilet paper

*paper napkin

*macaroni noodle

*tuna fish

-and this is just this week! I'm sure glad I saved the booger-sucker( I think the proper term is bulb syringe) from her birth!!!

It's been WAY too long!!!

2009-07-13T14:22:00.000-07:00

SUMMER TIME FUN!!!

We got to go to Mrs. Mullikin's cabin in Greagle (Grey-Eagle). It was her amazing, 4 year long, do-it-yourself project! The place was beautiful. We had such a nice time there. The kids got to do a scavenger hunt and we ate a billion s'mores! Mrs. Mullikin was a very welcoming hostess.

Churro came to play:

Kacy and her crew came to visit! They were here for nearly a month. We love being with them. Florida is too far away! We'll just have to come and visit you in a few days! Mike, Ellie and I are flying to Orlando on Saturday! We can't seem to stay away from them for too long!

All the cousins played and played:

Edmond turned 2!:

We stayed 'till closing at the "Creek Park":

Molly got a new Guide Dog puppy to train. Here is Trevino!:

The kids enjoyed their Swim Lessons:

We splashed in the water at Spoto park:

We took a weekend and went to Monterey. We went to the aquarium, and the cool Dennis the Mennis park:

The jet tub in the bedroom at our hotel!!!

Cool train you can climb on.

I have found time for myself and crocheted a new iPhone purse (a little larger than the first one. You can never have TOO big of a purse. It is still a little small):

And Ellie is still chubby and cute!:

I nominate this picture that Mike took as the "Latest Cutest picture of Ellie".

Baby Ellie

2009-04-10T21:54:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to share my latest cute pictures of Ellie:

Quail!

2009-04-08T10:39:00.000-07:00

Check out Isobel's class project that we are managing:

http://www.polarbearclass2009.blogspot.com

We have 16 baby quail at home during the spring break! It's fun but a lot of work too.

Sardines

2009-03-04T16:02:00.000-08:00

I finished my latest project. Here is the can of sardines.

Ellie loves to put them into and out of the can.

They were fun to make. Ian wants me to make him a sardine but with circle eyes! He doesn't like the dead eyes.

DucK Days in Davis

2009-02-22T20:42:00.000-08:00

On Saturday the family piled on in the car and drove just a few miles and had a "nice" time at the Yolo Wildlife Area. It's the large, flat area to the side of the freeway (50 or is it 80?) that is usually flooded. Well, it was a beautiful area. We got to see lots of ducks. We unfortunately didn't get ANY pictures of them. We saw Shovelers that had wierd shovel shaped bills. And cinnamon colored guys and other ones that weren't actually ducks but Coots. They were cute. The kids got to make bird boxes. They could choose a cute little blue jay box to build or a huge honkin' duck box to lug home. Guess which one they both chose! Guess what? We get to find a nice tree and nail a wooden box to it 8 feet from the ground this week. Isobel insists that a Wood duck is going to make a home of her box. She would just love baby ducks to be born in her box and to have the momma abandon them so she can take care of the orphans.

Ellie enjoyed the ride in her backpack. (Thanks Julie -and Jonah too!)

The children got fish in a barrel.

I also got in on the action too. A fish got our bait and another spit our hook out. That's O.K. we didn't really want to take him home anyway. He smells. Ha. So there.

Introducing Totoro crochet guy

I picked my hook back up as per Ian's request and stitched him up a Totoro. I am working on a can of sardines next. Don't ask why.

Eleanor Valentine is One

2009-02-14T21:56:00.000-08:00

Ellie had a fun birthday. She had a pancake breakfast in the morning, A little nap, and then family came over for a party.

Ellie was a bit timid with her cake at first, but eventually decided "It was good" and was covered from head to toe in frosting in no time!

We love you so much Ellie. I can't imagine our lives without you. You bring joy to all of us!

We try and try to stay away

2009-01-23T16:56:00.000-08:00

Last year we over did it with the Disneyland vacations. We bought the annual pass and used it too! Mike and I vowed not to return 'till the year 2010 or 'til the children leave for college. Well we've been back a few times since we took that vow. We just can't seem to stay away. The kids are going to think Disneyland is a home away from home.

Wanna' go to Disneyland?

Humh?

Ellie enjoyed the flavors of Disneyland.

...And the carosel.

The crazy fearless kiddies!

Mike gets ripped off with Home-made gifts!!!

2009-01-08T16:19:00.000-08:00

I needle felted Totoro for Mike for Christmas.

And crocheted an ugly "Jayne" hat for Mike too. (we like Firefly the tragically canceled t.v. series)

"Pretty cunning don't 'cha think?" Not too close to the original, but just as ugly in it's own rights!

Isobel Gets Braces

2009-01-08T16:12:00.000-08:00

Isobel has started a long and at times painful process of fixing her teeth. Isn't she cute?! And she is with her cousin Ashley in this picture.

Our First Cut-Your-Own Christmas Tree

2008-12-20T07:56:00.000-08:00

We decided we'd like to try cutting down our own tree this year. So we set out to Sloughhouse Tree Farm to give it a try. The children had a fun time running through the trees. Mike and I had fun trying to chop the tree down. We wanted a picture to document our momentous occasion, so we asked a kind tree to take one for us. I think he did a great job.

Pictures under the tree

2008-12-20T07:35:00.000-08:00

I was trying to get a picture of the children under the tree for Grandma, and this is the squirmy baby trying to escape. We ended with a pretty good one, I think.

Quest for Creative Outlet

2008-11-14T10:51:00.000-08:00

When Ian went to Golden Valley Charter School, some of the moms would meet and have a knitting group. I wanted to learn to knit but I never made it to the group. I thought about it and decided that I could teach my self. So I learned with the help of YouTube. I made some scraves for the kids for Christmas.

From there I wanted to knit more things than scraves. So I looked into making a little toy for Ellie. I couldn't find any patterns for knitting cute toys, but there were crocheting patterns everywhere! So I used YouTube yet again, and learned how to do amigurami the Japanese art of crocheting small toys.

Ian's bear "Luke".

Ellie's Piggie.

In the midst of all this I found "needle felting" and made a cute bunny. You start with raw wool and poke it with barbed needles 'til it turnes into what you want.
I sure found a lot of crafty hobbies all at once! It has been fun! Now I'm trying to get my sisters to try the Amigurami too...

Halloween Again! Again!

2008-11-14T10:43:00.001-08:00

I wanted to post more Halloween pictures. The kids are very IMAGINATIVE when it comes to costumes. We don't usually buy them. The kids create them. Isobel is a mummy here (toilet paper should do the trick!) and Ian is a Chinese man (Kacy brought an outfit for Ian from her stay in China. He wears it regularly, not as a costume. I think he was lazy about dressing up).
We also made a gingerbread haunted house. The whole family got in on this one! Notice Ellie with the scissors in hand!

Stop-Motion Family Home Evening

2008-11-11T20:33:00.000-08:00

Featuring Lego!

Halloween Again!

2008-10-26T19:15:00.000-07:00

We love Halloween! How can you not? Any holiday revolving around CANDY is A-OK in my book! I send the children out to work the streets for goodies that I take away and eat over the next couple of months! They shouldn't have it -it's not good for them. Decays the teeth, makes 'em crazy-hyper, and stunts their growth! (Hee Hee Hee more for me!) No really, last year we sent it all in to work with Mike. The story goes: we put the candy on the porch for the "Candy Witch". She takes the candy and leaves a toy for the kids in it's place.

Here we have a ghost, witchie-poo, and another witch. Not pictured is momma witch. We had a full coven this year!

Back to School

2008-08-27T21:52:00.000-07:00

We are back in school again. Isobel and Ian are both excited about school still! Isobel has the same teacher as last year, we love her! Ian has a very nice teacher. She's very patient. She thinks Ian is a little bored. So she sent Ian some sight words home to memorize. He can read a few simple books now. He is JAZZED about it! Now on to teaching him the alphabet.

Vampire baby

2008-08-27T21:42:00.000-07:00

Do the books you read during pregnancy and breast feeding influence your offspring? Check out this pictures of Ellie:

She has cut the two top teeth second from the middle on both sides. Can you see the fangs?!

I have Stephanie Meyer to thank for this! I borrowed the first book when I was about 6 months pregnant with Ellie, and I finished the last book now while Ellie is 6 months old- I was enthralled with the series! - along with a majority of the female population out there.

So cute when she smiles!

10 Years!

2008-08-23T10:04:00.000-07:00

Happy Anniversary to us! We met 13 years ago.

Tied the knot after 3 long years!

And have been blessed with 3 beautiful babies!

I am so blessed to have snagged Michael! What other husband cooks, cleans, brings home the bacon, makes the kids lunches... I had better stop here or else you'll question what's left for me to do. Well someone has to eat all the Bon-Bons and watch the TV!!! Happy anniversary Mikie-poo. I love you! Here's to 100 more lovely years (with modern medicine you never know!)

One Last Summer Fling

2008-08-23T09:11:00.000-07:00

We had a whirlwind last-week-of-summer-vacation trip. We went to Monterey, to the aquarium. We drove to Mike's Grandma's house in San Diego (well, actually Lemon Grove. Check out the cool, huge lemon!).
We took her and Mike's little brother to Coronado beach
The kids got a little sandy from burying each other.
And the zoo.
Can you figure out the theme here? Butt... maybe it's too obvious: And we couldn't just drive on home by way of Disneyland, without stopping there! Ellie's first D.L. trip (outside of my tummy).

Workin' on our summer-skills

2008-08-09T00:16:00.000-07:00

Ellie is learning to sit up all by herself.

Remember Weeble-Wobbles?!

Isobel and Ian made great leaps in their swimming skills this summer. They are well on their way towards the olympics!

Domesticated Momma

2008-08-04T10:49:00.000-07:00

I live a very domesticated life. The truth be told, it is exciting to get new appliances!

Here is our old microwave:

Notice the cracks. The one on the door was probably dangerous! It will explain the extra toes we grow later in life:

Here is the new one:

SHINY inside!

Here is the old dishwasher we should have chucked out when we first bough the place!

Check out the crap-catcher! Ewe, I didn't notice the yellow ring -I should have called in the Cat in the Hat to remove my yellow-dishwasher-ring:

Yuck!
Here is the new and improved dishwasher(no gunk catcher -it goes straight to the disposal!):

And yes, I did bribe the kids to model with the appliances(like The Price is Right ladies).

And just to prove the domesticated momma point, look at these cookies: Martha would be proud!

Isobel Gets Baptized

2008-07-15T12:47:00.000-07:00

Last Monday Isobel got to share a very special experience with her cousin Haley. They got baptized together. We are so proud of the choice Bel made. And happy to have had so many family members there.

Especially glad that Mike's Grandma Betty got to be there!

Klinglers Galore!

2008-07-13T10:56:00.000-07:00

We had a great big group of family members(35 of us) gathered here in Sacramento for the first Rodney S. Klingler and Mary Ann Klingler family reunion. Siblings came from all over the States(Arizona, Colorado, and Florida) and endured many hurdles(gas prices, car troubles, handling 3 small children alone, etc.) to get here. I think we'd all agree it was worth it! "Good Times!"

The Originals:

All 18 grandchildren at the Jelly Belly Factory:
The whole ruckus crew (If there was any doubt that we are a mormon family, notice the accordion divider used as the back drop):
We missed you Bob, Jason & Harley!

Tooth Status

2008-07-13T10:49:00.000-07:00

Just to emphasize the gap in ages in our family, I wanted to share the status on Ellie and Ian's teeth. Ellie has her first two bottom teeth and Ian just lost his bottom two teeth! (Ellie didn't want to show them for the picture. When I pulled her lip down, she just kept licking my finger)

Update on the wee-one

2008-07-10T20:27:00.000-07:00

Like my friend warned me, I have stopped blogging since I had Ellie. I am going to go back a bit and update you on some things that have happened:

Ellie reaches for things in May:

She rolls over the end of May:

Finds her feet in June:
And like me she got her first 2 teeth at 4 months old! Eleanor is such a great baby. She is very pleasant. She is happy 99% of the time!

Ellie Influences the Kindergarten Play

2008-05-08T22:45:00.000-07:00

Ellie got to go to Kindergarten with Ian. All the little kids loved to see the new baby. We all went on a walk to the American River and I carried Ellie in her sling (that I made, by the way, -super fun! I made one for everyone in the house, it was so much fun!). The teacher, Mrs Annie put Ellie to sleep and laid her in the play cradle. Boy, the little kindergartners loved that! Some of the girls were rocking her and gently petting her. For the rest of the week, the children were playing with the baby dolls and pretending they were carrying their babies in slings!

***

Such A Happy Baby!

Ian's Shinner

2008-05-08T22:37:00.000-07:00

Ian recently forgot to remember his Mom telling him over and over not to climb on the outside of the tunnel-slide, and fell and got the biggest knot on his eye! I don't think he'll climb on the slide again, for a while, -or at least 'til his eye heals.

2008-05-02T22:21:00.000-07:00

I'm on to this Flash Back Friday thing!

Two years ago we celebrated some of the many May birthdays at Disney Land. Isobel turned 6, Ian 4, Danika 3, Ruben 1 (April).

We also went camping with the Steenbliks on a warm summer's day. Little did we know during the night we entered the Twilight Zone! We woke-up to freezing temperatures and
snow all over our tents!

One last thing, my sister Molly started her Guide Dog training career in
2006 with Navarone!

Ellie's Blessing

2008-03-09T20:53:00.001-07:00

Ellie had her baby blessing at church last Sunday. She got to wear the Christening gown that her great grandfather wore. It's nearly 100 years old! Ian wore it too, for his baby blessing. (He's embarrassed that I put him in a girl's dress!)

Little Pumpkin

2008-02-20T16:34:00.000-08:00

2008-02-20T16:22:00.000-08:00

Here's the Baby

2008-02-20T10:56:00.000-08:00

On Valentine's Day Mike and I went into the hospital at 6:00AM and out came our baby at 2:33PM. Isobel and Molly left for a snack and came back just in time for the pushing (a total of 2). If they would have been gone for another 5 minutes, they would have missed Ellie's big entrance! Mimi and Lynette came shortly after to greet their newest Granddaughter. Lynette's 3rd and my Mom's 18th! They got to get in on the guessing of Ellie's weight. Ian was the closest with 9 lbs. She was 9lbs. 2 oz. They measured her length at 20 1/2 inches at the hospital, but 5 days later at the Doctor's visit she measured at 22 in (I guess it's not exact). Isobel and Ian are very excited to have Eleanor here. They both are great helpers. Isobel can't hold her enough and Ian loves to put the diapers in the Diaper Champ (It is fun how the diapers go in the top, you slide the handle to the other side and magically the diaper is gone!). Thanks for all the loving wishes and help from everyone!

Wow! Oranges Really Do Grow in CA!

2008-02-11T11:00:00.001-08:00

I have no green thumb. I can't keep a cactus alive. We planted a couple orange trees about 3 years ago. We were totally surprised to find actual oranges on it this year. Granted, we did get a funky teeny-tiny-little orange (I swear, I have bad plant mojo). See the orange dot in front of Ian's nose. I am impressed that we got 15 other oranges though.

Getting down to the wire:

2008-02-11T10:39:00.001-08:00

O.K., so I went to Kiddie Kandids in Babies R Us, and this is what you get for the FREE sitting:

My personal "favorite" is the Heart on the Tummy! The cropping leaves something to be desired. You can see my rain boots in a couple pictures. And I just look fat in the more front ways shots!

But hey, it's free!

Let's See How BIG Rene´ Can Get:

2007-12-30T19:26:00.000-08:00

If you couldn't see the belly button poking out, you'd think I shoved a basketball under my shirt! With 6 weeks to go... Next picture will be a watermelon in my shirt!

Winter Wonderland

2007-12-30T18:34:00.001-08:00

We took a trip to the snow during the Christmas break. Since it hadn't rained or snowed in a long time there was only a little snow. We had great-fun though. Even 7 month pregnant Rene´ went down the "slopes".

We had a great time the other day going to a costume party.

2007-10-28T18:19:00.001-07:00

The families were from Isobel and Ian's new school. It was dark, allot of us parents didn't know each other and were dressed in costumes. So if there was something stupid said, you can deny that it was you!
The kids ran around in the dark with glow sticks and had the best time eating all sorts of junk food! There was a heard of kids there and they kept on disappearing. We finally figured out there was a pen of goats behind the yard that the kids kept visiting.

This is our new blog to record daily events for furture generations to cherish

2007-10-28T18:12:00.001-07:00

So, we finally started a blog. We were inspired to do this because of the example set by our friends the Steenbliks You should check out their site: they moved to Europe.