Girls' Weekend

Enough Said.

Tennis brother

More December Fun

Have I mentioned lately how I much I love Alex. He is so eager to have fun, so easy to be around. He narrates his life as he goes and is such  compliment to Kate and Charlie.

New Year's Eve. My favorite night of the year. An 11 kid sleepover and total success

Winter break

I always worry when a break from school approaches. We exist fairly well with school and work and sports. The more we lead our separate and busy lives the less we know how to truly coexist. It is a true quandary. But every time we surprise ourselves. Sure we have a few rough mornings and moments. What appears to be a nice game of connect 4 (or 5 as Alex calls it) ends it yelling and hitting. But when we are given large lumps of time together as a family we always find our way back to harmonious happiness, sprinkled with intense arguing and teasing of course.

This break was special because Alex was really on the cusp of being a big. He had been out of diapers for 6 months, could charge through a day happy without a nap, and followed directions quite well. We ventured to the Oakland zoo and unlike last January it did not end in a barf-o-rama.

Alex was finally big enough to ride the big kids ride! I was smiling ear to ear. After years of holding the nursing Alex, then the toddler hobbling around, to finally the two year old who was old enough to communicate how much he wanted to go on the rides to finally the proud mother of three big kids able to ride the rides....I was elated.

Our annual crab fest was an success

And xmas morning was so fun. How cute is Alex!

Catching up on December

December is such a great time for kids, especially as they get older. The kids were so excited all month. We had our annual Siempre Verde potluck which was the best year yet. We had about 60 friends attend. It was a beautiful day and watching the kids run around independently while the parents socialized over great food was good for my soul.

We look forward to continuing this tradition yearly, but may have to cap it at 60! I am grateful the year ended as it did....healthy family, happy kids, and a true sense of community.

backtracking

The end of 2013 went pretty darn well. Our days . The sun was shining, the kids were happy, and the coastside was stunning. We spent many afternoons at beaches, parks, and in friends' yards.

The surf was pretty good too, which made for a happy Adam

This was the second time it's happened since President Lincoln established Thanksgiving in 1863 and it is also the last time it'll happen until the year 79,811. I'll say that again: after this year, Hanukkah and Thanksgiving Day won't overlap for another 77,798 years. So we lived it up. We lit our Menorah nightly. Followed by epic song and dance. It was awesome.

We took advantage of limited family time by racing down the street to our beach. Between work, school, sports, and social fun....having all 5 of us and only us is rare.

We got into the groove of school mornings. I started putting Kate to work in the kitchen. Here she is on pancake duty.

Alex enjoyed the reintroduction of green smoothies to our diet.

And I got to sneak Alex away to the discovery museum while the bigs were in school. This is a place I used to enjoyed almost weekly when Kate was under a year. 

So that was the rest of our November.

Being Thankful

 I have experienced enough heartache and worry this past year, enough to know when it is time to relish in things being great.  I could go on and on about how much emotion my body, mind, and soul has endured this year but instead I would like to document what I am thankful for.

I am thankful that my mother has managed to stay out of the hospital for nearly a year despite a few bad colds.

I am thankful Charlie has found a group of friends he enjoys at school. I am thankful he is thriving with reading and writing.

I am thankful that Alex is potty trained (for the most part minus the whole crapping in his diaper when he wakes up)

I am thankful that Kate loves school and things like building friendships come so easy to hear. I am also thankful to have a badass, athletic, tough, yet silly and sweet daughter.

Happy to have an abundance of friends on the coast that I can swap childcare as well as celebrate birthdays, seasons, life with

Lucky to have a husband who is a great father, open to changes, sympathetic to struggles, and a great freind

Thankful to have friends who like to play Settlers

Thankful to have family eager to watch and hang out with our kids

Thankful to have the resources to pay for things like piano lessons, tennis lessons, gymnastics, and soccer.

Happy my kitchen is repainted.

Thankful that Alex has forged his own place in this world. He really is his own incredibly being and I am forever thankful that my parents share in the delight of just him every Tuesday morning while I work.


Thankful for moments like tonight where my three kids engaged in a great dance party while their soup (that ADAM made) cooled down. Some bears take walks, some families have dance parties.

My life is full of ups and downs like everyones. My car is often a dirty mess. My kids are either jumping of couches, running around the housing, or teasing each other. I constantly worry and stress about the health and happiness of those around me. And it is a daily struggle of mine to feel liked and loved by those around me. I have plenty to worry about. I mourn events and experiences in my life that have caused grief and confusion. I worry about my parents getting older. I stress too much about my house being cleaner. I often feel overwhelmed by the noise and clutter three kids (or 7 when neighbor kids join us) create. But more important than all those feelings of fear, more important that stressing over the small shit, is the joy I give and receive on a daily basis from the amazing kids I am raising, the incredible support system of my parents, and the love and attention my friends provide. This is what I am thankful for this year. For growth, healing, acceptance, courage, and above all health.