The Rodriguez Family Blog

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Little League Opening Ceremonies

On Saturday morning we attended Jacob's baseball opening ceremonies. The rain held out for us and it looks like its going to be another exciting season! This year he is playing on the Red Sox. In years past he has been a catcher, but this time around he's trying a position in the outfield and a little pitching too! We loving watching the kids play sports! It definitely makes our weekends super busy, but we wouldn't have it any other way!

Hard Work Pays Off

On Friday Mariah received an award for making the Principal's Honor Roll at her school's academic rally. Good job girl, we are very proud of you!

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

U C L A....Fight, Fight, Fight!

Mario took the boys to Dodger Stadium this past weekend to see UCLA play! Now if your a Rodriguez, it doesn't get any better this...Dodgers, UCLA and Baseball all in one day! That spells fun!

San Diego Wild Animal Park

We had a girls day out on Sunday afternoon at the Wild Animal Park!

The Safari Ride was definitely the highlight! But we loved the Meerkats, Gorillas, Rhinos and Giraffes too! Oh, and the Super Sundae...

It was a beautiful day!

Mean Girls!

On Friday evening our church hosted a seminar called Mean Girls. It was a chance for mom's and their daughters to get together and talk through how to handle the mean girls in your life (and how not to be one). They shared tips and tools and encouraged all of us to approach the challenge with the right heart. This was a really great event. If you're a girl, you know how hard it can be if you have a mean girl in your life!

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Natural History Museum

We took the kids to the Natural History Museum on Monday. I love family days like this. We all had such a nice time!

Luke loved the "hands on" exhibit. Here he is digging for dinosaur bones.

I love this shot! This is Luke's expression after just seeing a tarantula.

Here he is holding some snake skin that a Boa had recently shed.

Here in the bird exhibit, Dylan anxiously awaited his bone weight. His bones weigh 19 lbs.

Give a Day Get a Day

We recently volunteered some of our time and items for donation to Steven's Hope with a great group of friends as part of Disney's "Give a Day Get a Day" program. This included the Dodge family, the Hyde family, the McCaffrey family, Diane and the boys and a lot of help from our good friend, Traci Bolton! Steven's Hope helps children and their families over at Loma Linda Hospital while they recover from serious illnesses. They have recently opened a children's boutique to help fund their organization.

The kids worked on making "get well" cards for the children that the Steven's Hope foundation helps.

Everyone worked together to clean the donated toys then sort and tag the clothing.

(Diane was the fastest "clothes tagger" around these parts!)

It was nice to get the whole family involved and share the experience with friends. Thank you to everyone who joined us!

Something to Consider

Adopting a child doesn't change the whole world. But for that child the whole world changes.

Unknown

It is a poverty to decide that a child must die so you may live as you wish.

Mother Teresa

Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.

Truem

Whether you believe you can do something or not, you are right.

Henry Ford

What we are is God's gift to us. What we become is our gift to God.

Eleanor Powell

Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve our condition!

The small things we do in life for others don't mean much...they mean EVERYTHING!

Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one come to you without leaving happier.

Mother Teresa

A friend is someone who knows you well and still likes you.

Unknown

Kids Say The Darndest Things

Luke often says such funny things, so I thought I would start to share them with all of you from time to time! So here are some of the most recent ones that have kept us laughing...

Apparently Luke has recently become fluent in French. When I inquired about where he had learned French he replied, "From the FBI!"

Recently our dog Maddie was barking to get outside. I sternly said, "Be quiet! Go lay down!" Then I heard Luke say, " Mom, I could be wrong, but I don't think that is the way to earn Maddie's affections!"

Luke has narrowed down his career options recently. He told me he just can't decide whether he should work at Walmart or be a Doctor!

Luke asked me the other day if we could stop at Starbucks for a "Frap-a-chonie".

After our walk through a living nativity this Christmas, Luke said "Wow...I didn't know Jesus was "king of the jewels" thats cool!"

Luke has been asking about heaven lately. When we will go there, who will go there and now...what will go there. He told me that he'd like "jacket" (his blankie) to be there so please put it in a box, write "JESUS" in big letters and He can pick it up at the post office when he has time!

When I asked Luke how his day at school went earlier this week, he said "Great! I met Avery and she's willing to marry me!"

Today Luke announced that he is getting a tatoo. It apparently is going on his stomach and will read: God is awesome...and so is my mom! It does have a ring to it! I like it!

Luke was watching the kids walking by as we waited for Dylan after school today. When suddenly he blurted out, " Oh dang! I just saw a Jonas brother! I didn't know they went to this school." I said, "You did?" And he said, "Yeah, the one with the hair!"

Luke hurt himself on Friday and we had to visit the emergency room. When the Dr. came in she asked me if he had lost conciousness at anytime. And although he was very much out of it, Luke opened his eyes just a little bit and said, "No, I lost my balance!" Then closed his eyes again.

Luke was asking about the logistics of how God could make everything in the world in just a few days. So, I began to review with him what happened each day. When we got to the 6th day I told him that God made the first people. I said, "Do you remember who the first man was that God made? Do you remember his name?" "Grandpa?" was his reply!

On Halloween Luke asked his dad, "What is Jesus being for Halloween?" When Mario said he didn't know...Luke said, "I think he's gonna be a hamster!"

Luke received a call from Geoffery the Giraffe at Toys 'r' Us for his birthday today! He listened quietly, then said, "What the heck? I didn't know giraffes could talk!"

We were at the doctor's office recently and the nurse told Luke that she loved his curly hair. This was his reply, "Seriously, it's not MY fault! It's my mom's..."

Recently one of Luke's siblings was sent to their room for disobeying. As he assessed the situation and they went upstairs, he turned to me and asked, "Are they gonna get their rear-end paddled?" To which I replied, "No! Where did you hear that?" He said, "You know...that's spanish for a spankin'!"

Most nights I tuck Luke into bed and they all go pretty much the same...tuck him in, pray, give him a kiss and turn on his music. But tonight was different! When we were done praying he said to me,"What did you say?" I said,"Amen!" "M-O-M!" he told me,"It's Hey, Man! When we're done praying we say Hey, Man!"

Man, you've got to love kids!