The Big 4!

Jack is 4!  Jack is 4!  Holy cow, how is THAT possible? 

Party central

It was an intimate gathering :-)



Helping Daddy installl the race track.  Check out Jack's crown!  That was his special request for the day.

For weeks all we heard was, "I want a Ben 10 party." So the night before his birthday, Grandma Laura came up, Daddy picked up a Ben 10 cake and Mommy did Ben 10 decorations. We had that little carnivore's favorite dinner, steak. Then he opened up several presents with Ben 10 toys and a new race track. He was a happy camper! We will celebrate his birthday in grand style when we head to Disneyland in January, but I think Jack felt very special for his big day.

Month in Review

We had great days...

and not-so-great days.

We had up highs...



and down lows...

and down REALLY lows.



But through it all, we've been grateful for each other.



Jack's Tracks

First of all, AAAAAAAAWWWWWWWKKKKKKK!  I have been trying to post photos from Lauren's birthday for 2 MONTHS now!  UGH!  If I can ever get it to work I will share them.  I had trouble getting the photos, they were only on Rob's laptop, then our internet was on the fritz for several weeks.  Enough, stop the madness!
Anyway, here is a cute video Rob made of Jack playing with his new Hot Wheels Race Track.  Yes, it is mounted on the WALL!  How cool is that?

Halloween 2011

Annual family photo at the pumpkin patch

Another spooky Halloween has come and gone.  Jack spent the entire year planning his costume all for an hour walking the neighborhood, and a few pieces of candy.  But the thrill this year was above and beyond all prior years.  He KNEW what to expect and came racing out the door full speed like a Batman on a mission.  So this year, with his trusty sidekick Robin, he canvased the community at turbo speed.  Folks, he literally RAN from door to door.  He has mastered, "Trick ot treat!" and thankfully, also "Thank you!"   His favorite treat was a bag of Cheetos, but he settled on Whoppers for his candy tonight.

As for Lauren, technically it was her second Halloween, but it was her first time trick or treating.  She was a lovely flower!  She enjoyed all the people watching and squealed with delight watching her brother race up driveways and down sidewalks.  She then retired with Mommy and Tutu at home to pass out balloons to all the cute kids.

Baby Girl and the Grandparents

Jack was busy eyeing the fake bloody hand while this family portrait took place.

100 balloons with bat rings for trick-or-treaters

Mommy and her precious flower

Batman and his sister flower

Batman striking a pose

Grrrrr...looking good Robin!  Nice abs!

Thanks to Grandpa Nick and Tutu for extending their trip to include our annual Halloween tradition.  It was so great to see them both and share the fun at the pumpkin patch.  Who knew Nick was such a jack o'lantern carving expert!  Jack had an amazing time with them at the movies, toy store and just hanging around the house playing.  Sad to see you guys head home.  Thanks for all the fun!

Noah's Ark

The Skirball Center in Los Angeles has an amazing exhibit on Noah's Ark.  The artist created all of the animals from repurposed items and the entire thing was completely interactive!  It was by far the best children's exhibit I've ever seen.  I figured Jack would like it, but Lauren loved it too.  She crawled the entire exhibit and touched everything within her reach.  I love the way it tells Noah's story, children create the storm, board the animals, clean up after then...brilliant!!  And the animals were genius!  I wish I'd gotten a photo of the alligator (head was a violin case and tongue was the yoke of the violin, awesome!).  We will definately return and bring Rob, too.  Thanks Grandma Laura for meeting us there.



Grandma and Beebs

Cool floor puzzle!

Baby in crawling/touching Heaven!

 

Jack loading the animals into the ark



Happy Birthday Lauren!

Although Daddy was still in St. Louis this morning, Jack and Mommy greeted Lauren with a heartfelt (even if it was out of tune) happy birthday song. She had a wonderful day. We spent the morning shopping for her birthday party. She loves to be out on the town, seeing people and places. Today we hit Vons, the florist, Target and Trader Joe's. She ate her favorite foods for every meal, french toast for breaky, quesadilla for lunch and pasta for dinner. Topped off with a birthday cookie. We capped the whole thing off with a fun bath with Jack. The big celebration will be Saturday, of course with cake and presents. I can hardly believe my tiny baby is becoming such a big girl. Happy first year to my littlest love.

Calgon, Take Me Away!

This photo would suggest that our family has spent the last few weeks relaxing on the couch.  Weeks, no.  Minutes, perhaps.  We have been unbelievably busy lately.  Now that I have returned to work our normally busy schedule has gone into hyperdrive and I have found myself multitasking to the extreme.  Note to self, you cannot butter toast while in the shower!   HA! 

Our friend Edgar earned his EAGLE SCOUT and his family had a lovely ceremony to celebrate his accomplishment.  I provided a tray of eclairs for the party.  They tasted even better than the photo suggests.

Grandma Laura ended her three week trip to Africa and made a beeline up to see the kids in an effort to end her withdrawl symptoms.  She spent three nights (wrapped around a business trip to San Luis Obispo).  One night she even obliged Rob and I to a date night at Brophy's for chowder and fish.  Jack had a great time at their slumber parties and especially loved their Saturday morning donut tradition.

Baby is getting braver and more dangerous all the time.  She has even started pulling herself up on things that aren't stable, like my leg or the bed sheets.  She is so mobile that she is getting into everything that is lower than three feet, such as the coffee table.  Jack's toys are no longer safe, unless they are put away in his closet with the doors closed.  But that may be a good thing because it's forcing him to clean up his bedroom floor.

Halloween is coming quickly and we have been in full spooky mode at our house.  We've got decorations up and costumes prepared.  We've been reading stories about ghosts and jack o'lanterns.  We went with Jack on a school field trip to the pumpkin patch, complete with a hayride.  The next two weeks will be painfully slow for our little trick-or-treater. "Tomorrow is Halloween?"  Sorry Buddy, not yet.  Jack and Rob are ready for it though!

I made Lauren's costume this year and this is only the preview.  I still have some details to add, but so far she LOVES wearing the hood.  Thank goodness because I put many nap hours into that flower.

Red velvet cupcake...we were practicing for her birthday party :-)

Oooohhhh, scary!!!!

Otherwise, it has been a typical couple of weeks for us.  Lots of adorable moments with our two little cuties.  Busy for sure, but still enough time for some fun, too.

A Fun Family Trip to the Beach

Here is a video of our little family trekking it to the beach to enjoy the scenery and the weather at the beach.

Painted Pony Farm

This was another super busy week, but not to busy to squeeze in a little fun.  On Monday we joined several friends for a fun time at the Painted Pony Farm in Santa Paula.  This time of year they have apple picking in their little orchard along with their adorable petting zoo.  Jack quickly became an expert apple picker, and Lauren became an apple eater!  I gave an apple to her for entertainment value and little did I know she would use those two little teeth to munch on it.  She managed to nibble little morsels off that apple for about half an hour.  She is such a great eater.  We also got to sit in the shade and hold some baby farm animals.  Jack got to hold a three week old chick and I held a three week old bunny.  Both kids were mesmerized by those adorable little animals.  Finally, we went into the farm enclosure where Jack got to check out the ponies, see the chickens and feed the goats.  The highlight was the enormous pig!  On our last visit he was asleep in the mud, but this time he was up snorting and begging for apples.  Such a fun day.  I am ready to move to a farm :-)

Farmer Jack riding the tractor

We didn't tell Jack this is where bacon comes from!

Hungry goats

YUM! MUNCH! CRUNCH!

Chicken coop

Ahhh, Family Time!

Love this shot!

 What a relaxing weekend!  Here is one of my new favorite photos of Rob, Jack and Lauren.  They were cuddling in Jack's bed and reading a new story on the iPad.  This was how our entire weekend felt!  Rob installed a new reverse osmosis water filter in our kitchen sink and had a bit of work to do, but we spent quite a while just hanging out on the couch, in bed and around the table.  In light of the 10th memorial of 9-11 it seemed best that we just spend two days appreciating each other. The highlight tonight for Jack was when we sorted through a huge bag of clothes from cousin Collin and Jack got to wear his new Buzz Lightyear pajamas to bed tonight.  Doesn't get much better than that!

To infinity and beyond!

Batman & Robin's

Jack was such a good boy yesterday we decided to take him for a treat.  His request?  He wanted to go to "Batman & Robin's" 31 Flavors for ice cream!  His favorite new flavor?  Green :-)  In this case, mint with chocolate chip.  Yum!

Labor Day Block Party

Bryn Mawr Street

Today was the 20th Annual Bryn Mawr Street Block Party!  We had a gorgeous day to spend together.  Our neighbors are all so wonderful and we thoroughly enjoyed the day.  Good food, great company, fabulous conversation.  Jack loved the GIANT jolly jumper, and he spent at least 3 hours climbing, sliding and jumping around in it. I can hardly believe that he won't take a nap after all of that! Lauren loved people watching and especially bonding with our friend Sasha who was in town for the weekend.  Jack helped me bake chocolate chip cookies and it was lucky we had one fresh out of the oven because there was not a crumb left on the plate by the time I got back to the dessert table!  Great afternoon to cap off a lovely weekend at home.

Lunch is served

Social Butterfly in her element

Big rock climber in action

Sliding down the other side

First taste of Jamba Juice...she loved it!

 

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Great cuddles with Sasha

 

Gotcha Little Buddy!



Cutie

She is just so cute, I thought I'd better share a photo to brighten up any gloomy days out there.  Sixteen pounds of sunshine headed your way!