Saturday, December 28, 2013

X-mas Morning


Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Santa, Baby!









Kindergarten Gingerbread House


Milk cartons + graham crackers = a very happy kindergartener.



Recital


J and I have been questioning guitar lessons. Do we keep sending Vera even though it is a struggle when she is supposed to practice? And, it is a struggle. There is a good 10-15 minutes of whining before she will sit down to play for 10-15 minutes.

Then, she has her recital and it all seems sparkly again and worth it. 

Mid-Life Crisis


That loud music you hear coming from the neighbor's driveway, booming so that the windows on your house shake. That is now my husband, his boys, and his car. I am holding my tongue and pretending that I don't live here. 



Holiday Season


A trip to the zoo with TaTa and cousins filled one morning last week with new adventures. Gus is the perfect age for looking at animals and causing havoc at the children's park.
 

Gus cuddles!
 

I went to school to pick up Keller and Rudolph got in the car instead. 
 

 Pearly-Whirly!
 

Santa Gus...seriously, he put the bubbles on and started saying "Ho, Ho, Ho!"
 

  Thank you Opa for the yummy chocolate covered strawberries!! See, I shared!!!

Monday, December 16, 2013

Family Visiting


We had a great visit with Great Aunt Steph last week. Gus, Pearl, and I got treated to Brophy Brothers, a fantastic seafood restaurant. I have lived in Santa Barbara for over 10 years and it was my first time eating there. The amazing part, Pearl slept quietly in her baby sack and Gus did remarkably well just chilling, drawing, and eating french fries. 

On Wednesday night, as we were all sitting down to eat dinner after having decorated sugar cookies...Gus starts throwing up. No bueno! Thank you Aunt Stephanie for helping that night. J had to work late and so baby holding and kid wrangling was a difficult thing to do as I tried to also clean the house. We would not have survived the night without you and I am so glad that you didn't get sick!

Catch-Up


 I love watching the boys hold hands...right up to the point where Keller starts dragging Gus down the aisle.


The Winter Funderland Day at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History is one of our favorite events of the year. 
 

Gus may take after his Opa, trains are in his blood and he could have sat and watched them for an hour. Unfortunately, the circular motion of the train made this mama dizzy and slightly nauseous. Oh, I will briefly mention that our entire clan got the 24 stomach flu. It was a rough week at our house.
 
 

Bows on babies = adorable!
 

Vera participated in a Feed the Firefighter Event with her Girl Scout Troop. So fun! 
 

 One way to keep a toddler busy.


  Awww..sweet moment between Pearl and her Nonni.


Sisters
 

Another keeper from Opa's visit. 
 

Last but not least, a glorious picture from an ugly sweater party. In 9 out of 10 photos, Keller smiles at the camera or at least looks at it and makes a funny face. In the one picture where the rest of the family is looking at the camera, he decides to be a goofball.

First Smile + Other Funny Faces

Thursday, December 12, 2013

Pearl and Gus


Pearls 1 month picture taken on December 3. Technically she was over a month, but it is close enough for my records. ;)


Just for comparison here is Gus at about the same age. I thought they looked very similar, but now I am not so sure.

Sunday, December 8, 2013

Bay Area Discovery Museum


Visiting the Bay Area Discovery Museum served as a two-fold mission, our family got to explore a neat new place and we got to hang with one of our favorite families. I was impressed with the layout of the museum....lots of unique, small building for the kids to explore.


 Gus enjoyed the toddler area. Water + fish + frogs = all that this boy could ever want.
 


I enjoyed the view...amazing. 


Seriously, these two are adorable and if they happen to get married in 20 years, I am showing this photo at their wedding.




We might have an engineer on our hands yet. Vera created a model of the Golden Gate Bridge out of cardboard and tape. Awesome!


My heart hurts a little when I see how big my baby is getting. She is so sweet and young in some ways and so mature in others.

Make a funny face!


Miss having this family in SB!

Santa Photo Minus Santa


I love Santa photos! I love getting the kids dressed up in decent clothes and dragging them to the mall to try to get a million dollar shot of all the kids smile while sitting by Santa. As of this year, I am still waiting. We walked up and Santa was walking away from us. He headed out on break to feed his reindeer...a 45 minute break. Urgh! Darn! Thankfully, the friendly elves working hard let us sit in Santa's chair for a photo. It has to be worth something.

Turkey Time


Cutest nephew ever!





Big sis made adorable hats for all of the kids for Christmas. 5 kids in one photo = a challenge. Keller has a different funny face in every single photo that I shot. This is also the closest that Gus got to a smile.