She has it all figured out

Sydney came up from quiet time the other day with this piece of paper. It is so simple and it IS that simple. I have so much to learn from my daughters. It is so beautiful to learn about God from them.

Some new traditions

We went to the Santa Cruz Holiday parade the other weekend. Wasn't quite what I was hoping for but the girls loved it because they, "GOT CANDY!!!" as Sydney would say. It did say a California Christmas all over it.
We also went to the Santa Cruz harbor to check out the lighted boat parade. This was really fun and festive. Not a lot of boats, but it was fun to be outside and not freezing.

Mid week we went to check out the Oakland Zoo lights. It was a bit of a drive but we stopped for some great wood oven pizza and cupcakes on the way.We love traditions with our girls. So fun to have things to look forward to the next year and fun to look back on the past. We are just so thankful for our family and the time that we get to spend together, thankful for this place and time in our lives.

A visit from Grandma

My mom came in for a visit last week. The girls love it when grandma comes to visit. They play and play and play. My mom has a great imagination and loves to really get into her 'part' of the scene. We played Dr, had ballets,made Christmas ornaments, played with 'hamsters'...the list goes on. One day we checked out the Seymour Science Marine Lab in Santa Cruz. It was so cool. The girls loved seeing all the marine life.

They had a touch tank where you could touch a swell shark. Sydney was a little scared, but braved it after my hand was not chomped off. Grandma also treated to take Sydney to her first movie in the Theater. We had a great time watching a really cute movie, eating popcorn and making new memories.

Our first Christmas in California (...as a family of 4)

Loving every moment of the process!
Remembering favorite ornaments, remembering funny ornaments, remembering/learning how to put ornaments on the tree.

Santa, aka. the one who fills this house with art work, already left some presents under the tree.

So excited for this season with my family. Starting a new set of traditions with some old ones mingled in between. What are some of your holiday traditions?

Sydney Monday

Life through Sydney's eyes.

Fall?

We have been having beautiful weather and have been savouring it down at the beach. And I am pretty sure it is November, right? Crazy!

Ahhhh...Avila Beach

We had a great little get away on Sunday and Monday to Avila Beach just outside of San Luis Obispo on the ocean. Since Nate has to work most Saturdays we took advantage of the off season and mid week rate at a funky little hotel. The whole time Nate and I kept saying that it felt like we were in Mexico- in a good way. Everything was just a little funky. Our room had a view of the ocean and french doors that opened up to a small balcony (I made sure the kids didn't lean or step on the railings. Mexico-remember) But I LOVED going to sleep with the doors open hearing the waves crashing. Ahhhh.. It was perfect. The weather was also perfect. It was in the 80's. We played on the beach in our swimsuits and Syd had her first taste of boogie boarding- kid style.

We loved being together as a family. Although both kids were just getting sick when we left, it felt like we really got away.

Little bit of Stella

Scene #1: It was about 2 hours after Stella went to bed. She was moaning and starting to cry. Nate went in to see what was going on. She was hot. She needed help getting her PJ pants off. Nate helped her, tucked her back in and said good night. As he was walking out the door stella says in her 'cartoon voice', as nate calls it, " Buenos Noches, dadda". Seriously, Spanish after you have been sleeping for 2 hours.

Scene #2: Sydney and her were playing with Moon Dough for the first time, (ugh I now hate moon dough) when Stella turned to Sydney and said, "Honey, you are making a big mess."

Scene #3: The girls like to play animal. One pretends to be an animal and then chases the other around the house. Lots of growling and screaming. Sydney was the animal and was chasing Stella . Stella collapsed on the floor. Sydney growled and 'ate her head off'. Stella started crying, like you do when you lost you helium balloon and are watching it float up higher into the sky. She was REALLY crying. MOOOOM, Sydney ate my head off!!!!!! NOOOO SYDNEY!!!! Sydney and I looked at each other and couldn't help but burst out into laughter. But like a good sister, Sydney walked over to stella and gave her her head back. Stella was instantly happy again. Silly girl. So rich with emotion.

She is the source of so much laughter in our house. I love seeing Sydney laugh at the silly things Stella does.

5 Years ago nate and I welcomed this little peanut into our lives. What a blessing Sydney has been to us. She is so beautiful inside and out. She is creative, thoughtful, loving, caring, sensitive, fun, adventurous and growing like a weed. Happy birthday my sweet girl!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from a clown, jellyfish, pirate, and train conductor!

This last weekend we went up to Occidental for a little work and pleasure. Nate was taking some of his staff to a Tree Climbing workshop for 3 days so the girls and I decided to tag a long and add a day or two on and make a mini vacation out of it. The first two days it rained and rained! The rivers and streams were swollen and water rushed over most of the roads. It was pretty fun since it was the first real rain we have had since last spring. Hard to imagine, but yes it has not stormed since last spring. We spent some time exploring the cute little towns in the area and driving through wine country and the rolling hills. It was so beautiful up there!

We watched Nate and his 'crew' learn about tree climbing. It was pretty impressive to watch them 'swarm' the tree like a spider hanging its web.

Sydney was loving it. She was not expecting the ropes to climb the trees. She said that she wanted to climb with her hands and feet on the tree not just with ropes. She did get to taste a little of what it was like to climb with the ropes. She got the hang of it pretty quick!

We also checked out Bodega bay. Beautiful coast line with grainy sand and big waves.