3 video notes...

Here are the 3 kids, giving you their video greetings:






Abby's is a little loud, so be warned:

The girls' dance recital...

Last Tuesday. our girls had their first dance recital. They have been taking dance classes at the YMCA for a few months, and this was their chance to show the world what they have learned. Apparently, the YMCA uses this recital every year as a fundraiser, because parents like me will pay whatever it takes to see their little girls onstage.

They were beautiful and wonderful, as you might have guessed. I have video of the event, but I don't know where the video camera is right now, so you will have to be satisfied for now with pics from before the show.



Here are the girls, waiting (somewhat) patiently to head out for the show.


















Now, they are waiting for us to take pictures, before they get in the car.
















This isn't from the recital, I just think it's cute. The Preschooler Formerly Known as Toddler Houdini really adores her big brother.










Anyway, the girls were great, DisneyGirl got a little stage fright, but she overcame it, and delivered a rousing version of the hamster dance, along with her sister and the other members of her class.

Is there a point to this post? Is there an uplifting spiritual lesson to be learned from this? Yes, there is. The point is, and don't forget this: my kids are really cute. Thank you. You may return to your previously scheduled blog reading...

Our trip to the Clipper game...

When I was younger, I went to professional sporting events pretty often. As my amigo Cap can attest, we saw the Lakers and the Kings quite often, and I saw a lot of Dodgers games (and a few Angels games too).

But I haven't gone to many in the last several years, for several reasons. There's just a lot of other things to do with my time. And it is REALLY expensive to go to a game, especially when you have to buy tickets for the whole family. (Not to mention the fact that my kids can each eat their own weight in hot dogs, which are also a bit pricey.)

So when I learned that the Clippers were giving away tickets to some of their preseason games, I jumped at the chance. Now, I know it's the Clippers, but free tickets are free tickets. Plus, I kinda like the Clippers. So, last Friday, Little MacGyver and I went down to Staples Center to enjoy the NBA action.

He had never been to an NBA game before, so he was a little excited. By "a little" I mean that he talked about it non-stop for several days before the game. And I thought his little head was going to explode with excitement when we got to the arena.

Here he is taking in the inside of the Staples Center for the first time. He's a little overwhelmed by the size of it:

This is the view from our seats:

As you can see, the place is packed with excited fans!



















Here's the little man, while his daddy makes him miss part of the game so he can take pictures:





















The best part was that after the game, he got to go down to the court and shoot a free throw! It was very exciting for him. He said that he was going to try to make the shot, and help the Clippers win the game. (Unfortunately, the Clippers needed a lot more help than even my amazing boy could give.) Here he is, barely visible as he heaves the ball toward the basket:
















The Clippers did lose, but it didn't matter to Little MacGyver, or me. We had a blast, and we'll never forget the experience. There's no better boy to go on adventures with than my terrific son!

Our trip to the Los Angeles County Fair...

I love going to the fair. We used to go when I was a kid, and I think the Mighty Mrs. J and I have gone every year we've been together. Now it's even more fun because we get to share all kinds of new experiences with the kids. And the kids love it!


Mostly, the kids are happy to wander through the livestock area. (Remember, our kids are completely city-fied, so they only see cows, sheep, and pigs at the fair.) (Oh, they see them at the market too, but in different form.) Believe me, there are much better places to be in the 100 degree heat! But they love it.

Here are Little MacGyver and DisneyGirl in the petting zoo. DisneyGirl loves animals, and she's really good with them. I can see it now: DisneyGirl on TV as the Goat Whisperer...











Toddler Houdini doesn't care much for live animals. She likes to look at them, but not to touch. But she does enjoy sticking her head through a plywood pig's head and making pig noises...
















Here's all the kids in a cutout. We had a hard time getting them to look at the camera. They kept looking down to see what the picture looked like...












They also set one building up as a winter wonderland. It has ice skating, snow, and sledding. The snow is more to Toddler Houdini's liking...















One of the new experiences we have is rock climbing. Sam couldn't wait to get there. He is a really good climber! He scrambled all the way to the top...

















This year, DisneyGirl joined in the rock-climbing fun. She tried very hard, and almost made it to the top. We were so proud of her!

















There are a hundred reasons why I love the fair. But these days, the biggest reason is that I get to share it with the most important people in my world. They make everything I do more fun and exciting...

BTW, the man next to the Mighty Mrs. J is her dad. He went with us, and had a blast! (So did we!)

We love the El Dorado nature center!

The Mighty Mrs. J has this week off, so we wanted to do some fun things with the kids. Today we went to the El Dorado Park Nature Center in Long Beach. It's a great place for city kids to enjoy some "wilderness" in the middle of the city. We go there to walk the nature trails and get away from the routine for a while.

It just so happened that I brought along a camera. (Lucky you!)


At the welcome center, kids can look at different exhibits about the plants and animals you might see on the trails. They have a collection of bones and skins from different animals. Here's Little MacGyver looking through the "eyes" of some animal. (I think it's actually a pelvis, but he doesn't care.)













DisneyGirl explores the possibility of life with antlers...



















Toddler Houdini found this cross-section of a tree fascinating, for some reason.
















Once on the trail, you can get up close and personal with all kinds of animals...













You can cross a small stream...













...or you can just enjoy the the wild buckwheat plants in the sunshine!













When you get tired, some nice mommy will give you a ride.













Everyone gets hungry after a long morning at the nature center!

Actually, the squirrel is on top of the lunches that came with a bunch of school kids. The bus driver wasn't paying attention, and the squirrel took advantage.

El Dorado Nature Center is a great place! Our kids love it, and when we visit, they don't want to leave...

Birthdays just go on and on...

The girls had their birthdays about 10 days ago, as I'm sure all of you are aware. But just because the birthdays are past doesn't mean you can't give presents.

Tonight, they got to open some gifts from their Aunt Jo, all the way from Colorado. Shockingly, I just happen to have some pictures. (Lucky you!)

Here's everybody waiting for mom to open the box and pass out the gifts...














DisneyGirl loves her new shirt (and her book/purse, too!)...












TH also really likes her purse/book. The only thing she likes more? Posing for the camera...












Because she's the coolest aunt ever, she sent a present to Little MacGyver too. He actually went to sleep wearing his new bug hat. And he had me hide his other bug stuff so the girls wouldn't take it. I think he likes his presents just a little bit...










Here's everybody, showing off their loot. The really cute woman in the middle? She's MY gift...











All the kids say, "Thank you Aunt Jo!!!" We love you a lot!

Little MacGyver graduates...

It has been a while since I flooded the 'net with pictures of my kids. I will now attempt to correct that, starting with pictures of Little MacGyver's graduation. His kindergarten graduation was a couple of weeks ago. It was held at a smallish church sanctuary close to where we live.

Here he is in his little suit. He is a handsome boy. Not sure why he's so serious...


















All the kids dressed up and ready to go. Toddler Houdini REALLY likes to take pictures!

















The sanctuary, just before the festivities...














Going down the aisle.













Here's the little man, talking to the head guy at the school...














The very proud mom...



















And the happy dad. The afternoon was nearly perfect. The only problem? The whole ceremony reminded me of one thing: he is growing up really fast...

Adoption Anniversary Day!

Today is a special day at the J house. 2 years ago today, our little DisneyGirl's adoption became final!

This is her, in a pic from a few months before the special day. It's hard to believe how little she was then, and how much she's grown. In this picture her arms are stretched up so one of us can pick her up. Snuggling is always much more important than taking pictures...


Adoption days are kinda odd. They are such happy occasions, but they take place at the children's court building here in LA. That is one of the most depressing places I've ever been. The amount of human tragedy that goes on their every day is overwhelming. I'm not sure how the lawyers and judges that work there get through it.

Anyway, you have to get to court first thing in the morning, but you don't know when you will actually be called in to see the judge. (The court hearing is really just a formality. All the work that makes the adoption final is done beforehand.) When you're finally called in to the courtroom, the hearing is pretty quick. The judge looks over the paperwork, makes you affirm that you are willingly taking this child as your own family, and then it's over. It happens really quickly, then comes a round of pictures:

Here we are with a couple of family members who could get off work and join us. Also, there's the judge, holding DG, the world's greatest children's lawyer holding Little MacGyver, and our other lawyer, who's also terrific.









There's really only one place to go after you've adopted DisneyGirl. So we headed out to the Magic Kingdom to celebrate. DG got to meet some important people, er, dogs...















Then we had dinner with the princesses at one of the Disney restaurants. Since DG considers herself one of the princesses, she had a great time:




























And this is my wonderful girl, in a more recent picture. (She's graduating from preschool; Little MacGyver graduates from kindergarten.) She is a great blessing. She is so full of energy and life. She is passionate and fun. She's kind and she loves people (and animals). We are blessed to have her in our family...

Daddy/daughter day at Disneyland...

One of the reasons I've been scarce here at the Frontier the last couple of weeks is that we've been getting our house in shape. You see, we decided to renew our foster care license, just in case we we jump back into the adoption thing again. In order to have a foster care license, your house needs to be in pretty good shape, and certain safety requirements have to be met. So it took time to get that all together.

We had the licensing inspection yesterday, and we passed. The Mighty Mrs. J took the 2 oldest kids with her to work so they'd be out of the way during the inspection. After the inspector left, Toddler Houdini and I were all alone. So we hopped in the J-mobile, and went to Disneyland!

TH is a lot of fun on outings like this. She's very sociable, so she loves being around groups of people. We started out at California Adventure. She loves this ride where you spin around high in the air. She usually sits next to me, but she decided this time to sit across from me, by herself:

You can't see her hands in this pic because she got scared when the ride started. So I'm holding on to her hands to ease her fears.

She's actually too short to go on most of the rides. So we ended up just walking around DCA for a while.













She loves to pose for pictures, so here are a few. First is her in the doorway on the Main
street of DCA. Next, TH in front of an airplane.






























When DCA closed , we went over to the original Disneyland. We had to ride the carousel, because TH can't go there without seeing the horses.
































We also had to ride the train and go to the Tiki Room. She has such a great personality. Taking her places is a real pleasure (even if she is 2).

I'm at the end here, and there's no real point to this post. (Unlike most of my posts, which have a laser-like focus.) But 1 thing we can all agree on: she sure is cute!

Little MacGyver goes golfing...

My friend Cap likes to write things about my lack of golfing skills. But he's really not being honest with everybody. I'm actually much worse than he says. But I do enjoy getting out occasionally to chase those little white balls around a course.

Yesterday, I got the privilege of taking my boy out to the course for the first time. We played at the luxurious South Gate Park golf course, a par 3 course about 10 minutes from our house. He was so excited he could hardly sit still in the car.

He was ready to go when we got there. The starter was kind enough to let us play, even though Little M is too young to play, according to course rules. Here he is just before we walk to the first tee...


In case you're wondering, the sign above his left shoulder says, "Supervise Your Children," which I did. He was actually very well-behaved, especially considering how excited he was. (He only chased squirrels into the fairway twice.) We had a great time.


He seemed to enjoy himself quite a bit, although he started getting tired by the end. He got the basics of hitting the ball, and he mostly hit it in the right direction (something I still have trouble with.)


Here he is out on the course...

I have no idea where the ball is in this picture, but he's ready to hit it when he finds it.

I'm glad he had so much fun. Golf is something he can enjoy his whole life, even if he's as bad as I am.

Of course, if he gets really good, maybe he'll turn pro some day. And then the Mighty Mrs. J and I can live off of the allowance he gives us. Can anyone say Tiger MacGyver?


(By the way, the pic at the top of this post? It's the World's Greatest Boy, and his very proud daddy...)

We went to the zoo, zoo, zoo (another one)...

Last week the Mighty Mrs. J was off for Easter Spring break. (Of course, the college she teaches at can't call it Easter break anymore, because Easter is very offensive.) So we spent one of the days at a favorite place for us: the San Diego zoo. It's about a 2 hour drive, but the kids love to go there. OK, I love it too, but let's say we went for the kids' sake.

Here are Little Macgyver and DisneyGirl trying to figure out where the snakes are:















Little MacGyver did some crazy dancing:
















Toddler Houdini likes animals--when they keep their distance:
















Here are DisneyGirl and Toddler Houdini dancing in the aviary:



And here are my 4 precious blessings, all together:















We had a great time. And the best part is the kids slept almost the entire way home! Oh, blessed peace!