dear santa

Dear Santa,
I've been really good this year and very helpful. Mom says I'll never get a second date with my table manners, but I'm not old enough to care yet. Forks are overrated. Please bring me something awesome and I promise I won't poke my younger siblings as much in the car.

A messy but great girl

Dear Santa,
I'm making great strides this year. My parents think I save all my good behavior for school, but I'm good at home too. It is just plan bad luck that they always catch me teasing. I'd like something cool, but maybe something I can take apart would be best.

A destructive but creative boy

Dear Santa,
I'd fit in great at the North Pole. I eat a very balanced diet of candy, candy canes, and syrup. I'm also just one bundle of fun. I'm all set to be super excited on Christmas morning. I'd really like my own dog, but Dad says they don't clean up after themselves. So please bring me more baby stuff and I'll promise to take my daily cry/tantrums down a notch.

A fierce and excited girl

Dear Santa,
I finally learned to walk and I have a few words down this year. I know mom and dad don't like it when I give them my chewed up food, but I think mom is trying to keep me as a chubby baby. I'd like to play with the big kids without being mauled and maybe a ball.

A dirty and patient boy

happy halloween

This year we had a unicorn, fire fighter, princess and puppy. Happy Halloween!

pumpkin patch

We all loved our annual family visit to the pumpkin patch!

our littles

 With two kids in school and a bit more energy and time, I've been feeling the need to snap some more pictures of my kids. I sure do love this clan of mine.

I love my two bookends.

A friend and I recently did a family photo swap and got some much needed family pictures. I'm pretty sure its about self preservation, but I've created an arbitrary rule that only once the youngest in the family is one do we need a new family picture. Thanks for capturing these Lindsey!

hi

Mr has been working on learning some words but none of us saw him mastering 'hi' as is second best one (right after 'num num' aka food). He says it to all of us over and over again. Everyone around here thinks its super adorable and he's pretty pleased with the reaction he's getting from everyone. I couldn't resist plunking him in this shirt and snapping a photo as documentation.

bitsy starts ballet

Bitsy is so excited to be doing a little ballet class this year. In the car, after her first class, she said she wanted it to go longer and that she wanted to come again the next day. We love our little ballerina! 

peter turns 1

Mr turned 1! This past year flew by and has caused me to reflect back a bit. Not that any of my pregnancies weren't particularly normal, but my body was so tired by the end of Mr's pregnancy and I was so excited to meet him that I felt such joy and relief at his arrival. His labor was much like his personality has been so far; very calm, steady and sweet. He was just the personality I needed to have around this past year with all the ups and downs that came along with having most of my kids still  home during the day. All my kids were so excited to meet him and although there is always an adjustment for everyone when you bring a new little one into your family, everyone adored Mr and has continued to do so. 

Along with all his sweetness he is a great sleeper and obviously a good eater! He's got tight little curls on the back of his head that I love, 8 teeth, a few words; 'num num' (food), 'more' and 'mama.' And is working on 'dada' and 'all done.' He crawls all over, has just mastered coming down the stairs, if missing is usually found in Tank's room or the playroom, and he is just starting to balance on his feet but has yet to start cruising around with the help of furniture.  

He also happens to be my snuggliest baby. One thing I really want to remember from his baby phase is his before nap/nighttime ritual. Before going to sleep he always gets a bottle and gives a great big smile after he's done with it, almost as if saying thank you. He then sits up, gives a little snuggle on your shoulder and dishes out 2-4 very slobbery kisses. This whole thing is making my motivation to ween him from the bottle pretty low. 

His birthday happened to fall on Labor day this year, so we deferred from our traditional birthday dinner celebration and did a breakfast one instead! And, probably because Mr's our 4th, he had already tried cake, he had it at my sister's wedding and loved it! The love of 'bear claws' has been passed down to my children from Andrew. So we had a bear claw 'breakfast cake' instead. Tank's pretty tempted to request the same thing for his birthday. We then went out on the boat and had a nice afternoon enjoying the river and beach (and where Mr got a little more cake to celebrate). Oh little one, we all sure do adore you and are so glad you're apart of our family!

The kids spent the entire morning (no joke, it was hours) pushing Mr around in his sweet new ride! 

Happy birthday sweet little one!

first day of school

Bug is a 3rd grader this year and Tank started Kindergarten! Bug is so excited to have a sibling at school with her. It is really sweet how she's looking out for him and I love that they are there together.

The Kindergartners here start 2 days later than the other grades. That was a rough 2 days for Tank! He kept saying he couldn't wait for school to start. He woke up early the morning of his first day and briefly mentioned being nervous to ride the bus, so I told him I would be happy to drive him. He quickly responded with a "no." About halfway through last year, Tank was pretty sure it was his destiny to get on that bus with Bug! So there was no denying him that this year. When walking down to the bus stop on his first day he was pretty confident and only slowed just a bit when approaching the stop. But just as we arrived, his sweet neighborhood friend came up to him, gave him a pat on the back and very emphatically said, 'its your first day of kindergarten.' The bus then arrived and he sweetly took Tank's hand and walked with him onto the bus. And that was that. I had lost another child! Fortunately, he was ready and longing to go.

 Since starting, Bug has been coming home happy, Tank came home just as excited as when he left and Bitsy spent her first day without the big kids around listening to, 'Let it Go' on repeat without anyone getting annoyed. All in all, I'd say everyone's pretty content and we're all hoping for another great school year!

This picture makes me laugh only because it is a prefect representation of Tank's life. Life sandwiched between these two girls can be challenging. They also have just discovered the joys of photo bombing. oh boy. 

coeur d'lane

We took a quick weekend trip to Coeur d'Lane to play at the lake there. We just went to their city park and beach, but it was beautiful! It reminded us of Bear Lake. We didn't do much exploring beyond playing at the beach, but had a pleasant time. The kids sure do love beaches. I'm sure there are a lot of other things to do and see there, but that will have to wait for another time. We were just glad to squeeze in another little trip together.

california

My sister got married earlier this summer in Northern California and we were glad we could make the trek down to come. It was a really beautiful day and we were so glad to all be there. We ended up coming a few days before the wedding and staying a bit after to have some fun! 

The first stop was to Rita's. We ended up going 4 times while we were there! Which makes me laugh. Such a yummy treat, and clearly we all enjoyed it.

Going to the Oakland Zoo is always a must for us. Bitsy adored the zebras and watched them for quite a while. She was really missing wearing her zebra shirt for the occasion. And Bug and Tank thought the giraffes were pretty cool.

The kids were quite enamored watching the goats you can rent to eat the weeds on your hill. 

We all enjoyed some mini golf and Tank made the crazy last hole to win a free game!

And finally, we made our way to Pacifica and found a really beautiful and quite secluded beach to enjoy for the afternoon. It was really refreshing to be there and great to let the kids get some running in before we made the journey back home.