Fall Fun

It actually feels like Fall (now that winter is approaching) The leaves have finally started falling off the tree in our front yard & Kate had a great time playing in the leaves with Kevin this afternoon!

Turkey Day Traditions

Every year for the past 40+ years, Kevin's extended family has gone Golden Gate Fields on Thanksgiving to watch the horse races. It is such a fun tradition! Here is the Larson clan at the races.
(From L to R: Kevin's parents Tom & Jill, Kevin's brother Jeff & wife Cindy, me, Kevin, our nieces Ashley & Megan, Kevin's sister Linda & her husband Mike. Bottom row: Alexis, Kyle, Katelyn, Claire & Matthew)

Here are the Larson cousins:
After the races we headed to my parents for Thanksgiving dinner. Here is Kate taking her first bite of a real Thanksgiving meal. It was also the last bite she took. She was not a fan.

Since Kate didn't eat her turkey dinner, Grandpa Jimmy decided to play a game with Kate to try and get her to eat. He put pieces of chesse & avacado in the paper towel roll and blew them onto Kate's tray. It was hysterical & Kate ate the chesse & avacado that landed on her tray. Way to teach your grandkids good table manners Jimmy! (oh well, at least it got her to eat something!)

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving and completed our Thanksgiving weekend tradition of going to get our Christmas tree. We are decorating today!

Happy Holidays!

Thankful

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Today and everyday I am thankful for:

• My husband Kevin who loves me so much. He makes me coffee every morning & lets me sleep in on Saturdays. Kev has more integrity than any other person I know. I love his heart for God and his generosity to other people. He is the best daddy to Kate & Claire & it is so fun watching him interact with them. I am so lucky to be married to him.
  

• My beautiful little girls Kate & Claire who have brought more joy to my life than I could ever describe. I am thankful for God's timing for giving me these girls.

• Our parents. We are so lucky to live a mile from both of our parents. I am thankful for my mom and Kevin's mom who watch them for us while I am at work or if I need to go to an appointment or on errands. I am thankful my girls have grandparents that are so involved in their lives.
  

• My sisters. Elyse & Becks are 2 of my best friends. What other sisters can say that? We have always been the best of friends & we just "get" each other..most of the time. I hope Kate & Claire have a relationship like I have with my sister. Auntie El and Auntie Box are the best!
  

• My friends new and old! I am lucky to have solid core group of friends, some of them who I have been friends with since elementary school! A bunch of us have kids the same ages & 4 of us just had babies weeks & days apart! I have also made a couple of new friends this year & it has been so fun, I look forward to getting to know them better!

• My job. I love being a math teacher. I am blessed to teach at a school that is 2 minutes from my house. It is fun teaching at the middle school that both Kevin and I went to. I have wonderful co-workers & have made some really close friends at school. I am thankful for my principal who is flexible and allows teachers, like myself to teach part time so I can be home with my girls for most of the day.
  

• Our church. I am thankful God brought us back to the church we both grew up going to (after going to a different church for 6 years) God knew it was exactly what we needed when we needed it. It is refreshing and feels like we are back at home. I am thankful for the leadership, wisdom, community and vision of our church!
  

I hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I am off to bed with a full belly & a heart full of thanks.

Pebble Beach

The girls and I headed to Pebble Beach for a couple days to celebrate my mom's birthday. Kevin didn't come with us because he had to study & work, My dad's company has a hook-up to a couple houses in Pebble Beach, so we got to stay in a sweet house, for free! yay!

We were only gone for 3 days & 2 nights & here is a view of my driveway as I piled up the things I was brining (what you can't see in the picture is an additional pack n play & my suitcase) :

Since Kevin wasn't going on the trip, the girls and I loaded up with my parents & got a ride with them. I was smashed in the middle of 2 car seats in the back of my dad's 4 Runner. It was...cozy??
We get to the house & it is right off 17 mile drive in between miles 8 & 9. The house was stocked with a gift basket for us & some wonderful wine! Yum!

We took a walk to the beach/water (or "wa wa" as Kate calls it).
Kate and Grandpa Jimmy:
Kate and Auntie El
Claire and Auntie Becks (aka Auntie Box...new nickname from Kate)
Kate's new favorite activity, holding both her Auntie's hands & having them swing her. (Imaging Kate saying repeatedly 1, 2, 3...sweeeeng!!!!!!)

Grandpa Jimmy & Mimi with Kate & Claire

Me and my girls:

We had a great first day in Pebble Beach, but the first night was a nightmare...Kate went to bed at 7 and then woke up at 11:30 pm and then woke up EVERY 45 minutes until 4:51 AM when she decided to get up for the day. Claire only woke up once. I was so tired that when Kate woke up for the 4th time, I actually cried. It was the first time in her life she has made me cry. Luckily at 8, Elyse took Kate on a walk to the beach & told me to go back to bed. I slept for 2 un-interrupted hours & it was great.

Later that day we went to the Pebble Beach Golf Course & Country Club. Way too "fancy" for me. It was SO quiet there & way to yuppie. But, it was beautiful!

We also went down to Ocean Beach in Carmel. Kate loved running in the sand & going near the wa wa. She would have stayed out there all day if I let her.


Here is my attempt at getting a sisters picture...

The second night I was hopeful that Kate would sleep better & I stayed up too late reading Twilight (yes, I am admiting that I read that book. I finished it...a good "vacation" read) Well, I was wrong about Kate sleeping & at 1 am she woke up every hour and was up for the day at 5:30. hey, at least I didnt cry the 2nd night. Thank God for coffee. Seriously.

Besides not getting any sleep, we had a wonderful time with my parents & sisters in Pebble Beach. And, props to my dad who was the only guy on the trip! Jimmy and his 6 ladies!

Lands End

My November Product of the Month is this great bag my cousin Allison sent me right after Kate was born. It is HUGE & has a zipper top & holds SO much stuff! I think I could fit Kate in one. Alli sent me another one for Claire & it came in the mail on Friday, just in time for our trip to Pebble Beach (that will be a whole new post, I am WAY too tired to blog about it now....)
The bag is from Lands' End and it makes a great new baby gift, birthday or Christmas present! The bags are made of thick canvas and are super sturdy. They come in tons of colors & you can get them personalized (which I love). It has pockets all along the inside. I was able to pack all their clothes, diapers & toys and it all zipped in nicely with room to spare! Mine are the X-Large size.

Thanks Alli for such an awesome & practical gift!

Retro Sisters

Remember my post the earlier this week called Retro Babies?

Come to find out, my mom actually had pictures of my sisters in the same outfit!

My younger sister Becks found a picture of her in it earlier this week after I posted on my blog & then I had my mom look to see if she had a picture of Elyse in it and she did! It's a miracle! Way to go mom!

Elyse 1977

Becky 1984

Bath Time Fun!

This is what I saw when I the girls & I returned home from Target & I took the girls out of their car seats. They had both had MAJOR diaper blowouts on the car ride home. It is only a 5 minute drive! It was not a pretty sight. Kate wasn't phased at all. Good thing Kevin was home when I got home! We stripped them down & it was time for a bath! You can barely tell from the picture above, but the poo oozing down Claire's leg, AND it was half way up her back...good times!

Seriously, this girl has some hair!

Yes, Kate is still taking a bath in the baby bath tub on top of our bathroom counter top.
I never would have guessed we would get this much use out of it!
She loves it & still fits in it, so it works for us!

Kate loves it when we do her hair like this during bath time. We call her Sputnik.