Sam Feeling More Confident

Well, Sam spent a good deal of time hugging the walls of the rink, but as he got more confident he ventured into the middle and even crossed the rink a few times (which wasn't great for all of the speedy skaters around him). In the end, he we both had a great time and are really looking forward to our next skate.

Sam Skating

Here is an example of Sam on skates...very fun!

Sam's First Ice Skating Experience

Sam and I had a special date today and went ice skating. Sam was quite the champ, frustrated at first and then very excited to come back again. Great job, Sam!

Pajama Time

Here are the boys having fun in pajamas this morning, on a rare "pajama breakfast" day. Something about having waffles in pajamas really starts the day out right!

What We Did After Dropping Mike off to Iraq

Well, we woke up early last Saturday morning and were able to see MIke off at the San Antonio Airport. We then rushed off to the zoo to be the first visitors of the day. We had a nice picnic breakfast watching the gibbons play. It was such a nice, peaceful time to be at the zoo, for a moment, we even forgot why we woke up so early in the morning.

Sam's Reach and Pull

Sam is really mastering his own freestyle. Here you can see him demonstrating his skills to Tyler. He really has improved dramatically over the last few weeks, I think that our local swim team is in his near future.

Tyler Practicing Reach and Pull

Here is Tyler trying his luck at some freestyle swimming. We are still working on his rhythmic breathing, but the dynamics are coming into place. Sam was able to catch him when he came into the finish...what a great older brother!

Throwing the Boys

Here is Mike's last day here in San Antonio, prior to shipping out to Georgia and then onto Iraq. As you can see, he sucked every last piece of fun out of the day. We started our day with a very long and arduous hike (without Tyler or Sam) in Government Canyon State Park and then spent the afternoon swimming and jumping in the pool. Sam and Tyler will certainly miss the pool antics, care of Mike, but hopefully we will be able to replicate most of it in his absence!

Mike's Promotion Ceremony

Family Pictures at the Promotion Ceremony

One big happy family! Go Mike!!!

Mike's Promotion Ceremony

We were all very excited to go to the hospital today and participate in Mike's promotion ceremony. He is now LTC Piesman (although technically you refer to him as Colonel Piesman) to all of us! Here are some shots of the boys enjoying the setup, and Sam even enjoying the receiving line. Sam was so proud to be able to pin on Mike's new black leaf this morning, quite the honor!

Tyler's First Day of Camp

Tyler was so excited to go to camp today. He saw Sam get dropped off to the Chabad camp (Camp Gan Israel) yesterday, and since that time, he has been asking when it was his turn to go to camp. Let's just say he really enjoyed himself. He didn't even let out a peep. I had the pleasure of dropping him off on Thursday and he said: "Bye, Mommy, see you after camp". And to think I wondered if he was ready!!

Kicking the Rockets

Here is Tyler working on his new skill: kicking the rocket, watching it fly. Let's just say, he was very impressed with himself.

Fun in the "Malinki" Pool

Here is a new game that was thought up yesterday in the "malinki" pool (or small) pool as Tyler likes to refer to the jacuzzi. The game is easy, count to three in Russian, hold hands and pull everyone down together in the process of jumping in. It seems like all players enjoyed themselves.

Sam's Graduation

Here is Sam's entrance for his big graduation day, full of Pomp and Circumstance and graduation hats!

Sam with Martha and the Proud Parents

Sam graciously posed for some key shots with Martha and with us. Please keep these pictures in mind when you see them recycled (hopefully with a longer tie) at next year's graduation. Practice makes perfect, we guess.

Do the Hula Mula Dance

Here is Sam's class performing the new hula mula dance! It is actually very catchy, I even jumped up and started doing it, perhaps you will like it too. Watch Sam's first moments...needs to readjust...and then he is off dancing, Go Sam!

Everyone at Graduationis

Martha, Mike and I enjoyed ourselves at Sam's graduation. There was an art show following the ceremony where the halls were lined with all of the art projects that the kids had done throughout the year. It was very impressive. They had studied all kinds of artists, Picasso, Renoir, Monet, Keith Harring, Escher and then made their own artwork in the artists' design. Sam even learned about all of the artists. I think that Sam's favorite is Picasso.

Singing At Graduation

Here is a rendition of Don Alfredo, a Spanish song, that the kids love. Enjoy!

Sam's Preschool Graduation

Sam was so excited to graduate from preschool. He has been with these same children for the last 3 years, so it was a nice celebration. Due to his post-September 1 birthday, he gets the pleasure of doing pre-K all over again next year. He is actually looking forward to it, although he keeps asking when it will be his turn to go to Kindergarten. Here are some shots of the actual graduation, which, by the way, started at 6:30 (Sam's usual bedtime)!

"I all done"

But not really...here you see Tyler trying to get every last drop from his fudgicle. This was his first time trying the pop, and he really seemed to enjoy it. What a mess!

Who Do You Love?

I think the sugar has gone to their heads. Tyler cannot think of anything but the Elmo song, and Sam is obsessed with Tyler's ear! Thank goodness someone said something intelligent (Michael).

Swimming and Dessert with Papa

The boys are truly enjoying their last weeks at home with Mike before he leaves on a six-month excursion to Iraq. Here you can see Mike has his hands full swimming in the pool with Sam and Tyler. After the swim, everyone enjoyed some very messy fudgicles and watermelon. As you can tell, Tyler cannot get enough of dessert, watch how he manages to hold onto the fudgicle and still eat the watermelon, smart boy!

Sam's Last Soccer Game

We were only able to get still shots of Sam's last soccer game, let's just say the action was too fast paced and by the time we got the video started, someone else got the ball or the goal was scored. Sam did great, scored 2 goals, played defense nicely and even passed to his teammates, certainly far better from last year's picking the grass in the goal! Way to Go, SAM!!!

Tyler, Our Dancing King

Tyler just loves to put on a show. He loves being taped doing silly things and then rushes over to see the camera so that he can watch himself. I am not sure we should be encouraging this behavior, hmmm....

It's Potty Time

I think this picture really speaks for itself...

Playing at the Park

It was family day at the park! It was a bit chilly to head to the ocean, so we made the best of it at this beautiful park full of trees to climb and toys to play with...what a great time!