Sprinklers

I joined in and ran and jumped in the sprinklers today with the kids. It was one of those fun moments of laughing and being silly that I wanted to cherish, but not ruin by running into the house to get the camera. Hence, no pics, just memories this time. It makes me remember that I love being a mom to these kids.

Sweet sweets

 My sweet girl and I baked some cookies yesterday for our Valentine boys - dad and brother :)

 I think she was more excited about liking the chocolate spoon than anything else!

I tell you, that girl LOVES her some chocolate. Nothing wrong with that, just saying it is big time for a 3-year-old. I guess there is no arguing that she is Andy's and my child!

 We also got to share some with our neighbors and friends Luke & Drea, who all probably love seeing the kids more than the cookies.

 Good thing chocolate on your teeth is cute when you're 3.

And happy valentines day from this cool dude.

Future stud muffin.

Farm girl and farm boy

Recently, one of Titus' favorite book is a farm book that he received for his birthday. So sometimes we jokingly call him a farm boy. And Annaliese chimes in that she is a farm girl too. Well, even though we live in LA, the kids do get a good taste of the country every time we go visit my family. Last time it even included a tractor ride on Opa's big Ford, only the tire pictured below.

 Annaliese even got to drive, but Titus just wanted Mom to hold him. Yes, all four of us fit in the cab of Opa's tractor, it is that big.

 Then we all got to drive/ride in the Ranger. They both had a great time driving. Fortunately it will be a few more years before they are actually behind the wheel, but it brings back sweet memories of "learning" how to drive with my dad a long time ago.

Rnnnn, rnnnnn!! Love you Opa!

Christmas travels

 Announcing: we have a walker. Titus is so funny because he actually started walking around 11 months before he was able to crawl. Within about a week, he started crawling and hence stopped walking. We could coax him to walk on rare occasion with lots of cheering when the mood struck him. But starting in early December, he's now on his own two feet. It is fun that he can get around now.

 W had a great time with friends from our Young Marrieds fellowship group called Unite, when we were newly weds in SLO. Tahoe was beautiful - but NO SNOW! It was a little bit of a bummer, but I think the moms were all secretly ok with not having to deal with it ;)

 Here are the 8 kids at the cabin all 3 years old and younger. What a fun and lively bunch!

 From Tahoe, we went to San Jose to see Andy's family for Josh and Desiree's engagement party and pre-Christmas celebration.

 Reading the Christmas story from the Bible with Didi's Kyrgyzstanian nativity set.

 Annaliese love her new jammies from Didi and Papa Mac!

 The adults took a quick pic after the kids had gone to bed.

Then we drove to my parents family and celebrated Christmas Eve/Day with them. Annaliese enjoyed singing "Jingle Jingle Happy Bells," "Joy to the World," and "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" (her favorite).

 Titus had fun, but wasn't entirely sure of what all was going on.

 The Peters Family :)

 Come on, cutest kids in the world? I think so.

 They love their Nannie Pie and Opa.

 Photo op clearly over.

Annaliese loved the new games she got for Christmas and enjoyed "Spilling the Beans" with Opa - totally thinking the point was TO spill the beans, instead of NOT to.

 Candyland with Mom and Nannie Pie.

Then to round out our trip all over the entire state, Andy and I got to go up to Shaver and stayed at a B&B for a night away while my parents watched the kids. It was a great time for us to relax together, although again - no snow! Oh well, we had a blast with everyone - family, friends and just us. I hope that you all had a wonderful time celebrating Christ's birth with your loved ones as well.

January in Southern California

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all!

We went to Kidspace Children's Museum on New Years Day. It has been so warm here!

 The kids got soaking wet and loved every second!

 As a bonus, we had to park near the Rose Bowl and got to see some of the floats that were being decorated! This our Cal Poly's "hero-themed" float.

We got to see Roy Rogers' daughter here at her father's honorary float. 

 They had to keep misting the flowers since it was so hot!

 Of the 5 or 6 we saw, the Trader Joe's Fearless Flyer red wagon float was our favorite.

 Today the kids and I went to Santa Monica with my friend Jayme, her two kids, sister and her grandmother.

 My kids love the sand and water. Titus especially just wanted to go head-long into the water. He would cry when I would lift him up when a wave would come up above his waist.

 Just another sunny January day in So Cal. Winter, what?