Made my month

So I was honestly nervous for this performance because my kids (mostly my daughter) can be totally unpredictable in these situations. One thing goes wrong, and she is pouting with her finger shoved in her mouth and in stubborn shut down mode. So as the butterflies built up in my stomach (very telling of how I will be at sporting events for my kids) I was thrilled to see that they both did awesome! Drew sung with conviction and took pride in knowing the words and hand motions. Lilly has a little more of a free spirit, showing off some improvisational skills with the choreography.

**Lilly on the end in front row red dress and white headband, and Drew 2 down from her in cream sweater.



Look at the joy. I love when you can see the excitement in the body language, the face, the way she holds her self.


They were going to hit that note...JOY TO THE WORLD




Absolute pure sweetness, yes?


The candy cane song...props always help a song out.


Leaving the stage after the performance, still on could nine.


Sorry, but I couldn't help but sing along, so just ignore my awfulness.

Dear Santa

Dear Santa,

Why do you like Christmas? Happy Holidays.

Merry Christmas. I have gummy

bears please? Do you have a kitty?

Do you have crayons? My

favorite thing is Christmas trees.

Love,

Lilly

Dear Santa,

Merry Christmas! Can I have R2D2

"beep beep beep"

I love you. Maybe you like chocolate?

Happy Holidays. Santa, do you like cookies?

What color is your favorite?

I know it is red.

Love,

Drew

Dear Santa,

We know Christmas is really

about the kids, but we are

still kids at heart really. The proof

is in how many times Todd assumes battle mode

with light saber/Star Wars battles the minute he

steps in the front door at 5:20pm everyday.

The fact that I play kitty, licks

my paws and then proceeds to clean my face

every afternoon. Let us not forget how

there are daily dodge ball matches

where the teams somehow always

end up girls VS boys. I am sure

you have noticed how the girls

exhibit stellar form and strategy during

intense and pressure filled slow motion moments.

Please let those moments NOT GO unnoticed

up there at the north pole.

We appreciate you coming to our house early this

year as a favor to the grown ups who

live here. Although we are still kids at heart,

our bodies are in fact getting older and more

specifically our eyes. So, again, thanks

for the dry run to our house last month and

we were more than happy to leave the front

door open for you. Our eyes won't

strain any longer.

We will always believe

in you Santa,

Todd and Lindsey

I knew they would come around

Year one



Year two


Year Three


ANd the award for most improved goes to (drum roll please) LILLY!

Pass me the ear plugs

Welcome to my world.

Everyday.



EVERYDAY people.

So what your saying is..we can eat this house?

Lilly and Drew were invited over to Nana and Boppa's house for some ginger bread house making! They were bursting at the seams with excitement when we told them the news of their special activity on a rainy Sunday. They are so proud and it's a great motivator to finish dinner too as it sits as their centerpiece at the kids table.







Thanks so much Nana and Boppa!

Now that the Christmas cards are out

Courtesy of the extremely talented Melody White (who I have worked for for a year now) Cheers to our one year anniversary Melody!

The Merriness starts

..and so does the happiness



The chosen tree

Family Field Trip

So if you haven't been to the Oakland Zoo, you are missing out. It's not San Diego Zoo, but it's far superior to San Francisco. We had so much fun. Adults and Kids enjoyed this little trip down to the East Bay. We caught a gorgeous day, and there is even a little ride section right outside the zoo itself which we indulged in on way out.


They loved the stroller. I am not sure if it was because it was not their own, or because it was the type they could just get in and out of on their own.....probably a little of both.


One of the most awesome things about this zoo was their kids discovery museum section. We spent lots of time there, looking and exploring.




Mattie was home (so for those of you paying attention, that means Matti was home last for Lilly and Drew's birthday which was over a month ago....so this post is only a month overdue) You could get so close to the animals at the Oakland Zoo. Every section we went to, there was plenty of animals hanging out and it felt much more like what their actual environment would be instead of just concrete cages.



This is such a typical Lilly look. Caught perfectly on film forever.



It was a fun filled, tiring (in a good way) day, and its BEEN A LONG TIME since I have turned around and seen this in my car. A long time.

Need to keep a record.

Of mis-said words that I just can not correct Drew for saying because they are so darn cute.

" I want to wear my Pirates of the Carabeanies shirt today Mommy"

"Can we play with the prodector?" (projector, but I personally like how it sounds like a dinosaur)

"MMMM, Daddy this gaderator is really good." (the ever popular electrolyte improving sports drink)

Its just the little things like this throughout my day that puts a huge smile on my face. Thanks Drew.

The Dark Side and Pixie Dust

It was a battle of good and evil in our house this Halloween. But as you can see from one certain picture...the dark side can be very alluring in its own way.

I love fall...

I love that pumpkin patches, cool weather, some rain, a cool brisk breeze hitting your face, stepping and crunching in the leaves means that the Holiday season is just around the corner.










How many days until Christmas??

Oh oh...I know I know

45 days.

Birthday festivities

Well, we woke up to lots and lots of rain the day of the Lilly and Drew's party at the(outdoor obviously) pumpkin patch. Little concerning for us, but thanks to weather tracking hour by hour, it appeared that the rain would stop by mid-day, so we were not shying away from a little wetness and mud. I mean...really, kids love getting dirty and wet in the mud, so we knew things would be fine.


This was the first year that Todd and I really looked around and felt like LIlly and Drew's friends were at the party( not just people the adults hang out with and force your kids to be friends with). They have developed friends over the last year at school, and it was so fun to see them get excited as they all arrived.


Jack is in the kids preschool class and they adore him. Such a sweet picture.


The Jumpy slide was a HUGE hit and that seemed to be where the kids spent most of their time. Thank you to who ever invented the jumpy slide because where would kids birthdays be with out it?




Close up of a slide for Lilly, so you can really see the happiness exploding out of her tiny body.


Time for ride to pick out the pumpkins. All the kids got to take home a pumpkin.


Drew was very attentive and careful with his selection of his pumpkin because he wanted an extra scary one, but really he just picked one that would not stand up straight with out leaning up against something.


Yay, remember what I said about the mud? Exhibit A-