Cousins!!!

Excitement for family (and friends!) who come to visit is one of the things my boys and I have in common. To be fair, Rudy also enjoys having guests...but the boys and I just about burst with anticipation whenever we know someone's coming! Recently, we had the pleasure of having our cousins from Calabasas over for the day. We love their visits and only wish we lived closer to make them more frequent. We are thankful they are "only" 2 hours away!

When they drove up, Kyle was on his Vespa scooter and the cousins got to check it out.

 Chase (above) and Luke (below) with their dad (my cousin, Mark).

 We took them to Irvine Park's Railroad for a little train ride and park adventure.

Sweet cousin picture!

 And in birth order, too!

 We walked around in search of one of the many playgrounds in this massive park...only to find the boys were more than content to play in nature. :) Climbing and stick fighting ensued.

Back at the house, we ate dinner and had a bonfire with smores. This is what the boys were up to (playing with my brother's old legos :) when we told them the cousins were leaving. 

Sweet Cole joined in on all the action, too. :)

 Thanks, cousins, for making the trek down to see us!!! Already miss you and want you back!! :)

A Photo Recap of Nov/Dec 2016

Over the last few months Kyle became an orange belt! Here he is in the board breaking part of his belt test. He is really so adorable to watch out there. He takes all the challenges seriously and tries to do his best. 

Master Pesce is awarding him his new orange belt.

We celebrate each milestone with some frozen yogurt a few stores down. While here, Kyle said, "It feels good to be an orange belt!" We're so glad to hear it.

Nights after taekwondo and getting out of the bath look like this... :)

The day after Thanksgiving we began decorating the house for Christmas. This year was by far the most fun we've had. Gavin is old enough to really participate with Kyle in all things and seeing the boys enjoy everything together, side by side, was really fun. They have such a beautiful bond. By now, we have quite a few traditions and just fun things we look forward to each day, with or without the holidays. 

A fun thing the boys looked forward to each day was getting to open up a new book in our "advent calendar." 

They made sure to open together and I'd love the squeals of delight when it was one of their favorites. 

We went to get our tree pretty early, just after Thanksgiving. It was raining just the day before so we all wore our galoshes. It made for a very muddy and interesting tree search, but still so much fun!

My lumberjacks

So unexpected and delightful was that it was actually cold enough for a fire!!! It has been one cool winter, for sure!!!

Some"snow" fun for Kyle at Auntie's work!

Kyle was given a trimester award for his reading ability. :)

And Gavin sang his heart out at his preschool's Christmas performance! He had a big fan club and loved every minute of it.

Auntie Michelle

Grandpa

Grammie

 It was quite a performance and Gavin's enthusiasm was so fun to watch.

 The family

The cheering squad :)

Precious little guy waited for Santa (who never showed during his scheduled visit!)

So we decided to find Santa elsewhere!! Irvine Park Railroad was such fun! 

"Ice" fishing...how could Daddy say no?!

So proud of their fishies!

Putting Daddy in jail!

Out to dinner with Grammie and Grandpa before our exciting ride on the train to see Santa!

And finally, getting to meet Santa. The boys' first time. :) 

Gavin's preschool Christmas party

An adults' "Progressive Dinner" party on our street!

 The boys and I had 2 weeks off together and we enjoyed it to the fullest. Nothing fancy chmancy, just enjoying each other! The boys learned how to cook a bit more.

They also enjoyed decorating Christmas cookies. 

Togetherness... :)

Christmas morning!!! 

Christmas afternoon at Grammie and Grandpa's

And last but not least, Ru and I celebrated our 13th anniversary! We got to sneak away to beautiful Crystal Cove for some beachfront breakfast. 

Happy 2017, everyone!!

Happy New Year!!

Hello, hello!! A million apologies for my lack of blogging! I keep waiting to get all my pictures uploaded and then another week goes by. Just logging on today showed me it's been over 2 months since my last post! Shame. Can we move on and still be friends? :) Cause this here blog is about to get pretty interesting...

First, let me bring you up to speed. Not waiting for pictures, no more excuses. This is what it is. And actually, what its been can be summarized by the words: balance, togetherness, and laughter. Three beautiful words. We are in a good season of life right now. Let me share some highlights.

At the beginning of the school year I took on a new position as our school's Title 1 Specialist. It's been challenging in all the best ways and very rewarding. Aside from stretching my wings, growing professionally, and not having to take any work home with me, I've been able to set my own schedule and go to work only when the boys are in school (or T, Th Rudy is home in the mornings with Gavin, still). I get off at noon and pick Gavin up from preschool (or switch places with Rudy) and later pick up Kyle from school. Everyday, from noon on, I am just mom. And I love that. I love that my jobs are compartmentalized and when I'm home my 100% focus is on my family.

Rudy's work has been so rewarding for him as well. He is an integral part of the business and couldn't be appreciated or respected more. They just love him and there is a lot of opportunity in the future for growth. Truly a blessing is having a boss who isn't intimidated by Ru's success but rather encourages it. We are so thankful to have him so close to home and come home each day feeling good about the difference he makes in others' lives.

The boys are getting older. They are easier, they love each other deeply, enjoy playing together, and are just great kids. We have worked through so much, so let me not be misunderstood... there have been many challenges! But, we've made lots of positive gains in our parenting and understanding. Laughter is good medicine. A new(er) fun part of our days include playing board or card games. Gavin is old enough to play right there with us and we have a lot of fun around the table. Equally fun for the boys are the plentiful friends on our cul-de-sac. There are 50 to be exact. Gavin just gained a new friend named Yuma. A family of 4 just moved in to the front unit of our duplex and our kids play together constantly. We live much of life outdoors and in the wonderful community of neighbors and friends. We are feeling very thankful and very blessed.

I'll pop back in next, for a little photo recap of the last few months. Thanks for wanting to know what we're up to and for encouraging me to keep at this! :)