December Phone Pics

Tom's parents and his sister Christina came for a visit this month. We almost got the whole family to act silly:

There is a local park that has exercise equipment stationed around the perimeter of the park. Andrew was not only getting exercise but almost doing the splits on this machine.

Madeline usually likes to sing when no one can "see her". Yes, she is singing in this picture:

Somehow Madeline got over her only singing while hiding long enough to sing in the Stake's Sing Noel concert.  She did a fabulous job!

Kayleigh, Praia, and Madeline being silly in front of the big Christmas tree at the mall:

Tom took a work trip to Japan and brought me home an awesome souvenir:

My awesome Japanese souvenir is now on my super tall Christmas tree, which was my birthday present from Tom. Yes, I did ask for a Christmas tree for my birthday.

I have spent too many early mornings lately on walks because my aching back keeps waking me up super early. On a positive note, I've seen some amazing sunrises on my walks!

Whale Watching Trip Success!

We had a fabulous time on a whale watching tour today out of Dana Point. We actually saw whales! We saw a humpback and grey whales. It was amazing!

We also saw sea lions and sea birds:

And we had a great time playing on the boat when we weren't chasing whales:

Andrew is photobombing in the background. (o:

So handsome!

Heather

We ended the night at a restaurant on the water watching the sunset. It was a perfect day!

Beach Time

My sister Heather is in town, so we headed to the beach today:

Heather and Madeline

Our traditional jumping shot

She's adorable, isn't she?

We have matching hair today!

Andrew doing a handstand

Madeline claims to not like playing in the sand. I don't believe her.

My kids like to photobomb and they have excellent timing:

Mike, Tricia AND the uninvited Madeline

It could've been the perfect shot for the family IF Madeline hadn't walked right into it. )o:

Andrew also knows how to get in the middle of photos, he doesn't belong in. )o:

I know this is my first post of the month, hopefully I'll get some more up before the end of the year.

Hope everyone had a fabulous Christmas. (o:

Фотографии Hоября (November Pics)

It doesn't rain enough here in California, so when it does, we play outside as much as we can! Notice how deep the puddles are in this pic:

This is what passes for a hurricane in California!!  In fact, it reminded us of the time we had a tornado warning here.  Yeah, that one was a false alarm too.

One second before taking this picture, Tom yelled out "Quick! Model pose!"  One of the three did okay.

My birthday party:

I had a wonderful 28th birthday again this year. Tom made an amazingly delicious two layer chocolate raspberry cake. I think I'd like to appoint him to be the official birthday cake maker in the family, since his cake turned out far better than any of my attempts!

Andrew really loves the frosting

In a not-so-subtle attempt to encourage us to raise our children in a gender-neutral manner, Santa got Madeline a bunch of building blocks for Christmas last year.  It's not working--Madeline is turning the blocks into dolls.  (Just kidding; Madeline is wired to make amazing things out of blocks; she just doesn't do it very often)

The "princess" block

Thanksgiving at our house.  We hosted again this year, but only had 21 people, so it was small compared to last year's. Next year I'm going to Hawaii for Thanksgiving! Right, Tom? (o;

Yeah, we hate it when the stores put up their Christmas trees early too, but Tom got me a new BIG tree for my birthday, so it HAD to go up early and I love it!!!

Andrew recently informed us that the elf was "just a lie that parents tell to get their kids to behave around Christmas." He also said the elf, "creeped him out and reminded him of Chucky" (don't ask how on earth he knows who Chucky is).  The next day, the elf appeared above Andrew's bed and changed the sign on his wall from "Andrew" to "Dream."  Andrew refused to sleep in his own room the next night. HAHAHAHA!

Next thing you know she will be wearing lipstick and have a tattoo. Wait, she will NEVER have a tattoo!

At least my parents know how to put on a crazy face.  Someday Tom's parents will acquire the silly gene too.

Spring training.  And wow, does Praia have Disney princess hair or what?

This is what happens every time I try to force the "triplets" to take a photo. At least, Praia tried to smile.

It's the little things in life...

Why life is awesome even when it's hard (and no it's not too hard right now). Things I am grateful for:

1. School that my kids enjoy attending.
2. Alone time everyday. It's so good for me.
3. Music (I downloaded a ton of my favorite songs from musicals and listen to my playlist on repeat.)
4. My new favorite song, "Falling Slowly" from Once.
5. Dark hide and seek at the PARK with my family
6. Madeline's sense of style-did you know she almost never wears pants?
7. Double date with fun friends.
8. Tom has been initiating social activities with friends which is highly unusual.
9. Our new megaphone. It gets my kids attention FAST!
10. My sisters are coming for a visit in January!
11. $46 round trip airfares from the East Coast (yes, this relates to why my sisters are coming to visit!)
12. Our friends are no longer moving far away. Woo-hoo!
13. The most amazing support system. I can't even begin to tell you how awesome our friends are. When my car broke down my friend immediately offered me her car to use while mine was being repaired. Another friend picked up my kids from school and took them to her house while I was at jury duty. More friends took my kids while I took a trip to New York! Seriously, I love my friends! They are the bestest in the world!
14. Tom's dancing around the kitchen during breakfast.
15. I only had to take one week off from working out from my injuries. I'm back at it again!
16. My parents arrive on Saturday.
17. We sold Tom's old car.

Ok, enough for today. Here are some fun pics:

Andrew being attacked by 6 girls! He's the one curled up in a ball on the chair!

Andrew insisted on wearing sunglasses while playing dark hide and seek. Apparently, it wasn't quite dark enough for him.

One of Madeline's awesome outfits that she put together herself:

The gorgeous area we live in. This was a pic I took on my walk this morning:

Beach Time Before the "Accident"

We had a marvelous time with the Carroll family on Saturday before I had my unfortunate boogie boarding incident. Here are the pics from the rest of the time at the beach:

Kayleigh being crazy

Praia, Madeline, and Kayleigh are the bestest friends

Madeline looks like a real boogie boarder, doesn't she?

Clark

Alora

Silly Astoria

Princess Praia

Jen boogie boarding for the first time with Alora.

Dublin

Tom and I having a great time!

So, overall the day was awesome. Too bad I hurt my back and bruised a couple ribs. Next time, I'm bringing my book and hanging out on shore!