Santa!

Well, it has come to our attention, that Sadie, is not a huge fan of Santa.

Julie and Andy thought he was a-okay!

But when we got home, Sadie was all smiles again!

Maybe next year she will give the jolly man a little more of a chance!

Winter Fun!

We are all so lucky we have such great friends to be goofy and enjoy the season with!

With these big grins, these two look alike!

Happy happy!

On a hay ride around Margarita, Christmas Caroling to the older folks!

Doesn't get any better!

Me and my hunky man!

Love her!

Sweet Boys!

Love these faces.

Class Parties Highlights

Yesterday I was lucky enough to crash the big kids class parties. They were loud and full of candy and crafts.

Andy was so surprised, and maybe a little confused to see me in his class. But I got to hear him sing the cutest song, "Snowman Soup" and then have a visit with Santa. He got up there and had a serious conversation. Andy told him to "surprise him with a gift because I am sure I will love whatever I get for Christmas"  He is the sweetest boy, always easy to please. And he looks way too big in this picture!

After reading a story in Mrs. Lewis' class, she lined them up to sing Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. Julie was one of 2 students that led the class in sign language.  She did such a beautiful job and of course I am so proud of her. I had no idea she was lading the song, so I was doubly glad I got to see it!

Now they are officially on break and stayed in their jammies all day!

Cambria Pines Lights

John and I decided we should check out a new holiday celebration in Cambria. We got there and were totally blown away by the amount of awesome lights! The whole thing was beautiful.  We walked along the path and ooh-ed and aah-ed at the lights.

Here are the kids in front of the "waterfall".

We even got to see Santa! Julie and Andy were super excited and loved him. Sadie, not so much. She didn't even go into the little house under her own power. But that's ok. Maybe next year.

We found a few gingerbread cookies and then found a great band playing Christmas Carols! It was so fun!

Big smiles in front of the tunnel of lights! It was all so beautiful, we closed the place down!

Oh look, I was there too! Photo credit to Julie.

We can't wait to go back to the lights, which we will, soon! It was the perfect type of holiday fun. Not a lot of people, not loud, we could go at our own pace. And, the kids were all asleep before we left the parking lot!!

Sadie's Thanksgiving

 Apparently I was way too busy eating and relaxing on Thanksgiving to get any good pictures, so instead, here is Sadie's Thanksgiving at school.

She loved sitting at the big table with all her friends. She has only been in this class for about a week, since she turned 2, but she it loving her new teachers and friends.

 After lunch they played in the sand box. She kept her fun little turkey hat on the whole time.

 Since Julie and Andy didn't have school this week, they were excited to go play at Sadie's school. They were good sports about sitting in the tiny chairs and letting the little kids go first with everything!

So I hope your thanksgiving was as enjoyable as ours, relaxed and delicious!

Sadie Turns 2!!

For the last week Sadie has been asking "Is it me happy day??" She was so excited when her "happy day" finally got here!  We started the morning with Lucky Charms (a major treat, we have a no chocolate, no rainbow cereal rule in this house).  Needless to say, all the kids loved it.

After breakfast we started getting ready to party! I love when the kids birthdays fall on a weekend so that we can celebrate on the actual day!

I caught this cute shot with Daddy before the party started.

Sadie loves Elmo and especially loved her Elmo cake!

The birthday girl was escorted to her bounce house by our sweet neighbor Nate.  She is just a wee bit smitten with him!

Happy bouncing birthday girl!

Lina and Gus! We love having all the Arnolds around! They are such great friends!

Sadie surrounded by boys eating lunch.

Lauren and Sadie hung out a lot at the party, they love each other! It is so fun for them to grow up together!

Julie helped Lina and Audrey get all the eggs out of the chicken coop! We love playing with our friends, especially when they help us with our chores!

Soon it was the time Sadie had been waiting for! Cake time!

Yay for our big 2 year old!

Mmm, the candle frosting is always the best part of the cake, right?

Sadie had a lot of fun opening her gifts. She loved this stuffed Minnie Mouse from Aunt Joanne.  It spent the afternoon in the bounce house with her and now it is tucked in right next to her in bed.

Andy and Sophia were helping her open her gifts. Everything she opened she immediately wanted to play with. 

Carter kept running by keeping us all entertained!

My kids are so lucky to have great friends. I am so lucky they have great friends, friends who want to be helpers and love each other so much.  And it kind of makes sense that our kids friends are so cool, because our friends are amazing. Days like today really drive that home.

Sadie's party started at 11 and the last of our friends went home at almost 5. It was a great day with so many awesome friends. Sadie didn't nap at all, so she was early to bed, tucked in with gifts and sleeping on her new cow pillow. She is one lucky little girl, but I think we are the luckiest ones of all!!

Halloween!

 For Halloween this year, we trick or treated our way over to the Santa Margarita Carnival. We were so excited to have Uncle Monster, Auntie Kay, Uncle Stephen, Aunt Sarah, Carter and even Uncle Hal and Aunt Arlene come with us!  We really missed John, who had to work, but luckily he was able to go to Zoo Boo with us the weekend before, so he got to see the kids in their costumes.

Carter was a little less than excited about posing for pictures. He was much more excited about running down the street with all the big kids!

 But I did get him to pose for a picture with his Daddy!

 My little cowgirl was feeling a little under the weather, but she was still a super good sport.

 My Geek and I! We have spent so many Halloweens together! I love that now we get to trick or treat together with our babies!

 Chris was trying to get the kids to take some selfie's with him.  I kind of doubt he had any luck. But I got some funny shots!

 Someone made Carter this crazy monkey head. It turned Stephen into a super cool monkey lumber jack....

 Silly boys. 

My pterodactyl was so good all night. He loved going in the haunted house with Uncle Monster. Julie went through once with Auntie Kay, but he wanted to go again and again!

We made it to the carnival and the kids played all the games. They also ran into a bunch of friends from school and around town. Us grown ups enjoyed the awesome banjo music.

Sadie was intensely watching the big kids to see how the games were played. She followed every move they made!

 Julie humored me with a pose or two.

 While the boys were in the haunted house, us girls took some selfies. We were slightly more successful than Uncle Monster.

Chris and I were talking about how we got some fun shots, but not a super well documented holiday. We decided that was a mark of success, we were having way too much fun to take pictures. And it was likely the best Halloween since we were allowed to trick or treat!