A glimpse of my WHAT?!

I can hardly believe that I've looked at my header as many times as I have and never noticed that it said, "A Glimpse of my WOLRD!"  How many of you have been keeping quiet??  Maybe some of you never picked up on it either--whew.  I'm going to leave it up for a day or so just so you can see it (or just because I don't have the time to sit and fix it right now). :) Thankfully I have a friend who cared enough to tell me. :)  Thanks, Jess.  From now on, please tell me when I'm making a grammatical fool of myself...well, don't tell me every time. ;) haha.

Catching up: Christmas part 1

It's true, the Holidays have come and gone.  We are in 2011 and I've been thinking about some things I'd like to implement in the new year.  I'm not big on resolutions, but a fresh start to a new year seems the perfect time to think about areas for growth and change.  But, I'll have to save that for another post.  First, I have some Christmas catching up to do!

We had a wonderful Christmas.  It was fun and relaxing, full of good food, great company and sweet times with family.  We made some new family traditions and enjoyed watching the kids soak in all that this time of year has to offer.  We never tired of looking at Christmas lights, listening to Christmas music and talking about the Christmas story.  We read lots of great Christmas books and made lots of Christmas treats.

After the Christmas eve service at our church we headed to Hylke's parents house for a nice dinner with his parents and younger brother and family.  We even let Opa open one of his presents early.  This year I made a couple of gifts.  I don't sew...well, I didn't sew...until this year.  As I was browsing through a "homemade Christmas" gift idea book, I came across a great idea for Opa's Christmas present.  Hylke's parents live on a farm and his dad is always bringing in wood for the fire with just his hands.  So, I enlisted the help of a friend and asked her to do nothing more than provide her sewing machine, and guidance if I had any questions and made Opa a log carrier.  It was an easy project, but was so fun to do! It was extra fun because her machine has an embroidery option too.  It was fun to personalize a couple gifts this year!

The kids were very willing to help Opa unwrap his present

We stayed the night at Oma and Opa's house, and Noah could hardly wait to see if Santa brought what he asked for...you know the choo-choo underwear he asked for. :)  Really, he asked Santa to bring "choo-choo underwear".  He made it easy on Santa this year...and since Santa was already doing some online shopping at Gymboree for said choo-choo underwear he went ahead and bought some undies for E too.  They were both THRILLED!  Noah called my parents and said, "Santa brought me SO MUCH (3 pair) underwear!!!!!"  WOW.  Easy to please. :)

 Santa went ahead and threw in some guitar and dinosaur underwear too...he was extra generous this year. ;)

 Although she doesn't look overly excited in this picture, I assure you she was. :)

 Tomorrow....Christmas part 2

Santa and stuff

Up until this year, Noah hasn't been a huge fan of Santa.  We did a Santa picture for his first Christmas, but the past two years we just didn't bother.  We decided to give it a try this year and Noah loved it!  Elliana?  Not so much. :)  We started with just the kiddos and Santa...

 

Hoping to get a little smile from E, we added Mommy and Daddy...

 

Realizing that a smile probably wouldn't happen (no big deal :) ) We took one of just Noah and Santa...

 

Noah and Sydney (one of his best friends)

  

It's been a full month.  Really full.  Like, 8 Christmas parties, 3 weekends of overnight guests, cooking/baking for 25 dinner guests, shopping, wrapping and trying to stay sane in the midst of all of it full. :)  Don't get me wrong, I love it (esp having overnight guests!)!  But it has been full. Even though it was full, we made time for our annual Tom's Farm trip with Hylke's mom and dad, brother, sister and their families.  The kids always look forward to riding the train with Oma and Opa!

 

 

Our last TMOMs of the semester the kids came in and sang for us.  It was the first time either one of my kids had "performed" for me.  It was such a special morning.  Here's a quick glimpse of my cuties.

 

Noah refused to wear his "Christmas Chain". :)  Oh well.

Fall and Dress-up

If you've been around me much in the Fall, you may have heard me complain at how warm California is in the fall.  I am ready for cool, crisp weather on September 1.  If you are familiar with California (esp. Southern California) weather, you know that this makes for a very unhappy girl for about 2-2 1/2 months (it is currently 79 on December 11!).  You may have even heard me complain that though CA is wonderful we fail big time in the "pretty fall leaves" department.

Well, this year has kind of been an exceptional fall.  We have had some cool days (beginning in SEPTEMBER!) a good amount of rain (I LOVE rain) and the trees look beautiful!  If you've been around me this fall, you've certainly heard me comment on how pretty the trees look.  I have enjoyed driving all around beautiful Redlands admiring the fall leaves...some on the trees, and some on the ground.  If you're not familiar with Redlands, it's a very established city, with lots of mature trees.  In fact, I happen to live on a street with lots of mature Liquid Amber trees, and they are GORGEOUS.  Here are a few pictures I took from my front lawn.  Thank you, Lord for such a beautiful Fall!

On to dress-up.  My little girl is such a little girl.  That may seem obvious, but it kind of surprised me.  Let me clarify.  First, she is as rough and tumble as they come.  She LOVES dirt (remember this?), puddle jumping, mud splashing, and she even loves to play with her brother's trucks and trains.  BUT...she also LOVES shoes, clothes, purses, jewelry and make-up.  Now, I'd like to think that it's because she sees how cute and trendy her momma looks each day, or because she sees me faithfully making myself up in the morning, maybe because she knows how much her momma loves shoes and purses.  But alas, that is sadly not it.  You see, I'm kind of a jeans and sweatshirt girl, I do wear make-up (from time to time), and sure I love shoes (I'm desperately in need of new shoes!!!!! and can count on one had the number I actually wear) and purses (the two that I own are awesome!)  So, this little one is naturally a girl...choosing a purse and shoes over tools (most of the time) and more interested in dress up than dinosaurs.  I couldn't resist snapping a few photos of her latest fashion show, I hope you enjoy!

Sneak Peek

We just got home from visiting our friends, Terry and Bethany, up near Santa Cruz.  We had such a nice time.  Will, their 3 year old, and Noah played like they had been best friends forever.  T and B are redoing their backyard and the boys had a blast "helping" the workers.  Bethany and I contemplated paying the landscaping crew for childcare on-top of what they're being paid for landscaping.  There are some great pics on Bethany's camera, I'll post as soon as I get them.

While we were there we also took advantage of the great location and Bethany's photography hobby and had her take some family pictures.  Here's a sneak peek of a few of my favorites:

 Noah looks grumpy in this one, but I still love it. :)

 This was a candid of Elliana dancing; I love it!

One last trip

Last night my sister and her girls came out for a quick overnight trip.  While she was here, we decided to make one last trip up the mountain to pick the last of the apples at Riley's Farms.  It was cold and windy...perfect in my book.  We made it just in time because yesterday was the last u-pick day of the season.  We left with a bag full of delicious Rome Beauty's.  Since Hylke's so tall, we left the picking stick behind, knowing that Hylke's shoulders would be waaaay more fun for the kids.  Elliana designated herself as the official bag carrier and refused any help along the way.  She had a few spills along the way, but it never once slowed her down.  Her very independent, very determined personality was definitely shining through.  After some picking we went to the petting zoo, ate fresh bbq'd tri-tip sandwiches, drank fresh pressed cider and let the kids run all around.  What a great time!

Who needs a picking stick?!

 My big sis and her kiddos

 The cousins

 Our attempt at a family picture

 little miss independent

 Oops!

 

Auntie Amy helping E