Veteran's Day

Pop-Pop, US Navy 1964-1968, Aide and Flag Lieutenant to the Commander Service Group Three.


And here is a proud Addie next to his photo on the Veteran's Wall at her elementary school.

School Portrait

Who is this mature young lady?!

Addie said the photographer didn't give her time to smile before she took the picture. Maybe that's the trick!

BFFs

On November 1, Eliza said bon voyage to her best friend, Sophie, who moved to Maryland. I cried when I heard they were moving because Eliza loves Sophie so so so much. We have promised to let the girls FaceTime each other, and Eliza has already sent Sophie two hand-made cards, one promising to share gum with her if she comes back to visit. I think the transition will be harder on Eliza who is being left behind while Sophie is off on new adventures. The good news? Eliza has a very big heart and will have lots of close friendships her whole life.

Eek!

I haven't had a blog post in so long it is daunting to know where to start, but I'm going jump right in with the present (or very recent past) - Halloween! Addie is Hermione Granger from Harry Potter (as if she needs an introduction), Eliza is Tinkerbell (during the day and decided to be Rapunzel at night) and Xavier is reprising Addie's spider costume. I took thee day off again this year spending the entire morning in Addie's classroom helping with lantern crafts and taking photos. I loved it. Addie and then headed over to Montessori for Eliza's and then Xavier's parades. This is why I take the whole day off! Then we went home for a snack before going over to our friend Danika and Kieran's house for pizza and trick or treating.



This was Xavier's first time, and I was really worried about having him in contact with nuts. It isn't as easy as just removing the Snickers and Almond Joys from his plastic pumpkin. He can't eat most of the regular chocolates either because they may contain nuts. He can't even touch peanut butter and imagine how many sticky-fingered kids are out with their gooey hands in the candy bowls. Luckily we avoided all of this because after 2 houses, Xavier was content to sit in his stroller and just eat allergy-free dum dums and skittles for 2 hours. Everyone had fun - and stayed safe.

Eliza Turns 4!

Happy Birthday Eliza Wren!

I had the chance to go to Eliza's school for her birthday celebration. In montessori tradition, the birthday child holds the earth and circles around the sun one rotation for each year of their life. Eliza was crazy excited and went around enough to be a teenager but then a few laps in reverse so maybe in the end she was still four. Later that evening, we had pizza and cupcakes at home with a few presents with more and more and more to open over the weekend. She has her birthday party on Saturday with 20 of her classmates. We are doing it at her gym class location so there will be lots of jumping, tumbling and bouncing - and I don't have to clean!

Love my little Eliza girl.





Montessori celebration


4!




Eliza's "mad" face. A classic.



Making a wish

2nd Grader!

Addie started 2nd Grade today. She was super excited because her best friend Zoe is in her class. I'm shocked they didn't split them up this year. Their teacher better watch out! When she got home Addie said her day was "very good" which is high accolades from Addie. I'm glad she had a great first day but boy does she look tired in these photos. We came home Saturday from an amazing two weeks in New Mexico (and a little Arizona in between) after 15 hours straight on the road (more photos to come!). This kid is exhausted!

So long summer, hello homework.






Yup, that's Zoe in the background


BFFs

Two!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Xavier!

I can't believe how cute he is! He is such a ray of light in our lives. Xavier continues to be a sweet, gentle boy. He loves animals, airplanes, and playing soccer. His adores his sisters and is always hugging them especially when they are sad or hurt. He likes to keep things neat and tidy (gets that from Cap, not me!) and has two special stuffed animals he cuddles with in his crib: Bear, which Cedars Sinai gave each of the kids when we took Eliza to the ER for her bee sting and A-ta-ta-ta. This is his word for chicken but it's actually a pigeon throw pillow. I had given to my pigeon-phobic brother. So happy to have it as a much loved companion for Xavier. With a menagerie of other stuffed animals, he chose those two.

When I went into Xavier's room in the morning to wish him happy birthday, his first words were "cupcake." We let him open up one present from GranJanne otherwise he had to wait until after school for his egg-free, nut-free, cupcake. I got stuck at work in a meeting and raced home in time to grab some balloons from the supermarket and enjoy some cupcakes. I had thought about filling his crib with balloons when he woke up. I am so glad I didn't do that because it turns out he is terrified of balloons. He wouldn't touch the helium ones or let them near him.

Sunday we leave for two weeks (yes! two whole weeks!) on a road trip to New Mexico where will be staying at my cousin Elizabeth's place. I am looking forward to seeing family and just plain relaxing. I think this is the longest vacation we have taken in maybe 5 years. What?!



Anticipation






Cupcake Monkey


Of course at our house the new soccer goal is now a play tent



No balloons!

Xavier Runs and Eliza Sings (some more)

A quick video so I don't forget how cute toddling is. Xavier turns two in a few weeks.


Eliza sings "Call Me, Maybe." An impromptu performance on a hawk walk in our neighborhood

Zoo Videos

The kids feeding the giraffe



Xavier sliding down the "ant hill" for the first time

Happy Camper

Addie has been looking forward to sleep-away camp all summer. Gran and I dropped her off Monday and I'll pick her up on Friday afternoon. Addie had a few moments where she said she was going to miss us but overall she was grinning ear to ear with excitement. The camp is awesome - all girls just about eight miles from our house put tucked up in the pines of the Santa Monica Mountains. She will get to do archery, crafts, swimming, hiking, ropes course, sing camp fire songs, and perform skits. I'm excited for her.

This is her third of four different camps this summer. Last year we did the same camp and I promised Addie we would do something different. This, while being a planning nightmare, will expose her to different places and activities and we can see what she wants to do next year. The next two weeks she is going to another awesome camp in a different part of the Santa Monica mountains. It's a day camp and she will get to ride a school bus that picks her up and brings her home daily plus she will get to go horseback riding - a first for her (not counting pony rides). After that we all hop in the minivan and spend two weeks in New Mexico visiting family. And then, Addie will be in second grade; school starts August 13!


Addie and her friend Danika. They will be at sleep-away camp together plus camp the next two weeks as well. They don't go to the same school so this is a fun way for them to spend time together.



When Addie is away her siblings play. and spin and fall down.

Sunday

Rounding out our four day weekend, we shopped and got frozen yogurt in the morning and then spent the afternoon at the beach. It was a quick trip as I had to be back for Girls Night - dinner and The Heat (yes! more movies for Mommy!). All kids had a great time, even X-man who continues to be very distrustful of the water but liked playing in the sand and pointing out helicopters and seagulls. I even spotted a sea lion.




Eliza in her sand blanket as she called it






Check out Eliza's jumping prowess

Movies and Missions

On Friday, we took Xavier to school and then the five us, Me, Cap, Gran, Papa Mit, Addie and Eliza, snuck off to see Despicable Me 2. Loved it! In case that wasn't enough movie time, we invited our friends Danika and Kieran over to watch My Neighbor Totoro and eat pizza. Yay for friends!

Saturday was our adventure in Santa Barbara. We stopped off first at the Santa Barbara Mission, a first for us. Pretty cool place but after an hour Xavier was ready for lunch and a nap (lunch he got, a nap he didn't). We ate a hurried lunch (note previous sentence about X not napping) at Los Agaves and then drove over the zoo. I adore that zoo and it was a treat to show it to Xavier and Gran for the first time. Xavier forgot he was exhausted and was enamored of the whole experience. All three kiddos got to feed Aubrey the giraffe and see two 1-month old baby giraffes plus a whole gaggle of other animals.


Exploring the cemetery at the Santa Barbara Mission


Cap took this photo of lovely Miss Eliza


Condor watching

Happy 4th!

Four day weekend. Yay!

We kicked-off the 4th at Kenneth Hahn Park, followed by a BBQ at home with Cap's homemade BBQ sauce and ending with fireworks seen from the outfield at a local park. This is our first time seeing great fireworks in LA and I was super impressed. Addie said they were "awesome!"


After some hot weather, the temperature dropped to 75 and Eliza and Addie both had on winter parkas and hats for our al fresco dinner. Geez.

Eliza had been at Gran Camp for two weeks while my Mom is visiting and Addie joined her for the second week. Lots of baking, reading, painting and a little media time to let Gran take a well-deserved nap. This was extraordinarily helpful as it saved us over $900 in camp and school fees. We had to give Gran giant hugs today when she flew back home.

And a Happy Birthday to my Dad (aka Pop-Pop) who is celebrating in Chicago.


Pigeon chasing


Geese, ducks, and even some baby coots. Cute Coots.

I'm a Belieber!

Thanks to my office, I had the chance to take Addie Justin Bieber's Believe Tour. I didn't consciously realize this was her first concert, forever to be noted as such from here on out. But I guess Bieber is a pretty good one.



He was playing on a Monday night so after camp and work, we drove down to Staples Center leaving a sad Eliza at home. Addie loved the first two bands (Mike Posner and Hot Chelle Rae) standing up and dancing at her seat. We got orange Fanta and pink cotton candy. Then we waited. The Biebs didn't go on until after 9 and it was horrifically loud where your whole body is harmonically tuned to the bass. I wadded up napkins and put them in my ears. After maybe half his set, Addie curled up and went to sleep. So sweet. There was another little girl asleep as well in the aisle over. I, too, can sleep anywhere, especially in a loud action movie, like when we saw Star Trek last weekend. Oops.



I thought Justin Bieber was great, even with me earplugs. I'm impressed. I guess that makes me a Belieber.

Xavier Doesn't Feel Much Like Singing

Here is Xavier from his class' spring performance. Stunned and on the brink of terror. He never cried and he didn't run away. He froze. After a song or two he decided maybe a few hand movements to the songs might not be that bad.