Our litte Wookie

We have been trying for months to get on video Trevor doing his Chewbacca immitation... This is the best we've got so far!

How lucky can a 5-year-old get?

Yesterday poor Scott spent the morning throwing up and the afternoon recovering. Here's what he told me today:

"Mom, I was SO lucky yesterday that I didn't have to eat breakfast, lunch OR dinner! I only drank a tiny bit of water. That was so lucky!"

Lucky?!? Really? Please tell me some day this kid will eat willingly.

While I'm writing about Scott and how silly he is, the other day he was very entertained taking pictures with my camera. Here was my favorite sequence of shots:

Charlotte has a lot to be thankful for...

In case you can't read it, my girl is grateful for:

- Blueberries, grapes and raspberries
- Mom & Dad (I made the thankful turkey this year! On Scott's turkeys he was only grateful for my hair.)
- Scott & Trevor
- Nail polish
- Soccer balls
- Churches

So she is healthy, glamorous, athletic AND spiritual!

Thanksgiving at the beach

This year we headed to the "California beach house" (as Scott and Charlotte call it) to enjoy Thanksgiving on Monterey Bay with my family. We had a wonderful time, as usual! The food was awesome, the weather was beautiful and it was so fun to hang out with family! Scott and Charlotte were more interested in feeding the ducks their Thanksgiving dinner rather than eating their own. They ate rolls and drank Martinelli's, leaving the rest for us. How thoughtful of them! Trevor got LOTS of love, especially from my Aunt Nancy and cousin Lindsey... Why is it that he will fall asleep in other peoples' arms, but not mine?


Black Friday Mom, my cousin Alisa and I hit the road at 8am (not bad for a nursing mother) and were off to Del Monte shopping center in Monterey. I know many of you reading this have been shopping there with me at some point... It really wasn't very crowded and we scored some awesome deals at Macy's, Gymboree and Loft. My favorite purchase was a winter white wool coat -- full price $280, marked down to $120, minus my $100 gift card from credit card points, and the final cost was $20! I'm doing my part to stimulate the economy!

Thanksgiving Feast

Scott had a little preview of Thanksgiving today! In anticipation of the big kindergarten feast, Scott was very nervous about the whole event because he was afraid he would have to eat a bunch of food he hates (or that he hasn't ever tried). I convinced him that it would be fun and all he would have to eat would be a roll. Bread is usually safe... I felt better as I was helping to set up and heard several other parents comment that they didn't expect their children to eat anything except the roll and maybe applesauce. So Scott isn't the only picky child in the universe!

All the cute pilgrims and Indians came into the multi-purpose room and sat down to a beautiful meal! Unfortunately most of the food was thrown away, but the rolls were a hit. Good thing I brought 36 for a class of 21!

So spoiled

My birthday was a month ago, so this post is LONG overdue... We got back from Arizona, and waiting for me on my answering machine were about 13 messages from friends calling to wish me a happy birthday! And then I got on my computer and I couldn't believe all the email and Facebook messages from TONS of people also remembering my birthday. And if that wasn't enough to make me feel loved, my dear Friday lunch friends gave me a Cocoa Latte machine with super yummy hot chocolate!



Today was cold and rainy so it was the perfect time to break out the Cocoa Latte and enjoy candy cane hot chocolate... There was a tiny moment today when I wished it was snowing outside while I was inside enjoying my fabulous birthday gift. So THANK YOU to all my wonderful friends for making my birthday special!

Arizona vacation

Now that Jeff and his family live in Gilbert and Drew's brother Christian and his family live in Chandler, we thought it would be fun to take a vacation and go to Arizona! We got to spend time with both families and enjoy the awesome weather. We had our timeshare to use, so we chose the Scottsdale resort, simply based on the fact that they had a waterslide. That is an essential feature on Scott's list of ammenities. Mom and Dad came along to join the party as well... With 4 adults and 3 children, it made the plane ride pretty easy! Once we got the bags checked in and did the security circus, the rest of the flight wasn't bad at all. We had exciting snacks for Scott and Charlotte, and both had an iPod to play games and watch The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown. I will never travel again without those iPods to provide entertainment. So here is summary of all the fun things we did:

• We saw Jeff and Kelly's adorable new house. Kelly made a couple awesome dinners for us. Thanks, Kel!

• Charlotte became a little more brave in the water. She LOVED playing in her 'tiny pool'. We may get her to enjoy the water after all...

• We were snobby and enoyed having lunch brought to us poolside.

• Christian, Candacy, Sydney, Jill and Leah came to hang out with us and swim at the resort.

• Trevor met his 5 Arizona girl cousins. They all love him!

• We had awesome shaved ice at Bahama Bucks! Almost as good as the real thing in Hawaii.

• Scott and Charlotte had their face painted. Charlotte went with pink and purple hearts, and Scott chose the number 99.

• We played at a great place called Makutu's with Jeff, Kelly, Elle and baby Laney. It was an indoor play place with a HUGE tree house and tons of gigantic slides.

• Scott went down the water slide a few hundred times, played some billards and ping pong.

• Aunt Candacy had the magic touch with Trevor. She was able to get that boy to sleep instantaeously.

We had a wonderful time and were so glad we could spend some time with our family!

My Big Kindergartener

Someday I will look back and think Scott was so little at this age! But right now I look at this photo and think he looks BIG... My kids are growing up so quickly... Time isn't going to slow down, is it?

Bishop's Pumpkin Farm

I have learned when we go to the pumpkin patch NOT to have any crazy hopes of taking an adorable picture with all kids smiling. I didn't even attempt to get Scott and Charlotte in cute picture attire... And it was a good thing my expectations were low, because here's the best shot we got:

But other than these silly pictures, we did have a wonderful time! Scott loved sliding, the train ride was awesome, and both kids really enjoyed the animals. I was a little surprised about that last one, but Charlotte thought the goats eating out of her hand were hilarious! And as always, the apple cider and apple-pumpkin muffins were amazing...

And we came home with one GIGANTIC pumpkin! Check out the one Scott is sitting on:

Trunk or Treat!

The week before Halloween was the annual ward Trunk or Treat party. We just got home from Arizona (that post to come soon!) and Scott and Charlotte both crashed on the couch. We had to wake them both up from a dead sleep and bribe them to put their costumes on. But it didn't take long for them to perk up once they realized the candy that was waiting for them...

Before the actual trunk or treating, there was a costume parade and contest. I am proud to say that we took home 2 awards! Trevor was most adorable, obviously. Poor kid - the costume took away any mobility that he has!


And Scott and Zach won best couple! Mario and Luigi were surprisingly popular that night. People really loved their costumes and thought they were very creative! I don't know that I would really call their costumes 'creative'. They both just picked them from a catalog, despite Annette's attempts to get Zach to dress up as something a little more, uh, manly. But the boys have already announced than next year they will just switch and Scott will be Luigi and Zach will be Mario. Easy!


Charlotte was Snow White, and although she didn't take home an award, she did look adorable too! In the end, they came home with LOTS of candy and had a great warm-up for the real trick or treating on the 31st!

Fun at the Notley farm

Our awesome friends Jen and Charles (who in the near future will be moving from the Bay up here - yea!) invited us to hang out for an afternoon at Charles' parents' home in Orangevale earlier in October. Drew and I both knew Jen and Charles back in our single days in Palo Alto. By the way, once they do move up here, all of you living close by HAVE to hear this girl sing...

Sorry - back to the point of the post! Scott, Charlotte and the cute Notley boys, Henry and James, went on a hay ride, picked pumpkins and watermelons, fed the goats, ate cookies and brought home tons of pomegranates and tomatoes. It was great to meet "Charlie's" parents and they were so kind to entertain us for the afternoon. We weren't that far from our house in suburbia, but it felt like we were way out in the country. Thanks, Notleys!

Disney Princesses on Ice

Mom and I decided Charlotte might be ready for her first big show- Disney Princesses on Ice. We got tickets for Halloween day, and I tried to explain to her what we were doing, but she didn't quite get it. She was worried the ice was going to get her... She has also been worried that if we go back to Disneyland that Minnie might hit her. I'm not quite sure where these fears are coming from, but I did assure her she would not be abused by either the ice or Minnie.

We got to Arco Arena and it was a sea of cute little girls all dressed in princess costumes. We couldn't get Charlotte to wear a princess dress, but the always popular blue flower dress was her choice. The show was adorable and the costumes were amazing. And Charlotte seemed to really like it! This is just the first of many chick-outings for Grandma, Mommy and Charlotte!