Bakersfield Weekend

Last weekend I was fortunate enough to take a quick trip down to Bakersfield to see my Grandma Clara.  She recently had a bad case of pneumonia and is very slowly recovering.  She seems to be getting stronger every day.  She is on oxygen and takes a lot of naps but I really enjoyed being able to just sit with her and read.  Grandma Clara spent a lot of time resting which meant I got to spend a lot of time with my Mom (Grandma G).  It was a wonderful time!  We took a walk, went to stores in search of Cali gear for my kids (much harder to find than I anticipated) and toured what still exists of her childhood as well as some of my Dad's (Papa G).  We also got to enjoy lunch one day with my Aunt Mary and dinner with her family Sunday evening.  It is always fun to see them!  I haven't seen any of them since four years ago when we went to Disneyland.  My cousins' kids are getting big and made me miss my own that much more!

 Great Aunt Mary and Steve

 Adam (my cousin), Amy, Maggie, Sofie and Ethan

 Aaron (my cousin), Andrew, Brandon, Bobbie and Parker

 Great Grandma and I

 The cheapest flight was at 6 am this morning.  It is quickly turning into the most expensive.  On the way home a dog ran out onto the CA 99, a 70mph road.  It was there, and then I was hitting it.  Seeing as it was dark, a little foggy and such a fast road there was no way I was going to risk my own safety to stop.  I'm fortunate to not be hurt!

I was so happy to be back with my babies.  Exhausted but so happy.  Kayda was spending the night at Grandma Peggy's so she wasn't there to greet me but these boys showered me with loves!

Dillon's 7th Birthday

Way back on January 8th (sorry for the delay) Dillon turned 7.  He wasn't too happy that it was a school day so we woke up early so that he could open his presents from us before school.  

 For lunch Carson and I surprised him by picking him up and taking him over to McDonald's for a happy meal and ice cream cone.

 Later that evening we met up with Grandma and Papa H for dinner.  He was SO excited to open his presents and was thrilled to be sung to!

When Dillon opened this gift (the light that clips to  his bunk bed) he got really excited!  We asked him if he knew what it was and he said no!  We got a good laugh out of it.  That night as soon as he got upstairs he was pulling it out of the box.  He now reads snuggled in his bed every night and often reads to Carson there!

We love this boy so much!  He is a very tenderhearted, thoughtful, compassionate boy.  I hope that he can stay that way forever!  He is also so smart, incredibly imaginative and simply HILARIOUS!!! We love this kid!

Carson Started Preschool!

 We did some testing with Carson because I was concerned about his speech.  Kayda and Dillon both started speech therapy at three so I thought I should have them test Carson as well.  They determined he needed speech and he needed help with separation.  Carson will do anything with brother and sister, even with friends he already know around but if he doesn't have another kid he is super shy.  If he is put in a new situation without Mom or Dad he gets very upset to the point of being inconsolable.  So they decided to enroll him in preschool.  Monday was his first day.

 He was so excited to go (knowing Mommy was staying) that he was frustrated by our attempts to get pictures.  He only cooperated with Daddy when Daddy made it a condition of going!

He did much better than expected.  I have spent the last three weeks getting progressively more anxious about helping him transition smoothly.  I expected to be in there for several days and having to fight my way out.  However, on Monday he let me leave at snack time (just over half way through) and yesterday, as well as today, let me leave within minutes of getting there.  He seems to be enjoying school and likes knowing he's at school with big brother and sister. 

Afterward, since he did so well, I picked him up McDonald's.  He wanted an ice cream cone and a big mac.  I thought watching him eat the Big Mac was hilarious!

A couple other things

A few other winter break activities!

 Another trip to the dentist!  All three kids are in the no cavity club again!  They're entered into a drawing, if they are picked they get to choose a toy.

 Kayda was invited to a tea party/ornament exchange for Moms and Daughters.  She knew three of the girls.  Arianna (right next to Kayda) is her best friend, Briana is in the pink skull shirt and there was one more girl from her class that was not in the picture.

Christmas!!!

Our Christmas started a little early.  By a little early I mean the previous Sunday when we were able to exchange gifts with Auntie Kina.  Later that same day we were exchanging with Uncle Justin and Aunt Ayana.  Sadly I forgot my camera so I don't have a lot of pictures like I'm accustomed to!

Then on Christmas Eve we did our exchange with Grandma and Papa H.  Before we had dinner with them, Uncle Pat's family and Baba.

 Fortunately Daddy took a few pictures (he filmed most of it with our main camera).  I was slacking this season!  I better get on that!  This year Carson really understood the entire idea of Santa so it was a lot of fun!  The rule is that they can't go down without us so they had to wait until we got the camera!

 Santa's masterpiece didn't make it through the night!

 The kids played with their Santa gifts until we could get on the phone with Grandma and Papa G.  I was able to do a video chat with them (though it was very patchy) so they could watch the kids open the gifts they were given.

 Aunt Kirsten's family sent us some shrinky dinks!  The kids had a great time coloring them.  Though I haven't baked them yet!

We were able to spend Christmas relaxing at home.  Grandma and Papa H came down for a short visit too.  It was a wonderful Christmas!

Christmas is Coming!

We started getting ready for Christmas the day after Thanksgiving just like always!  It took us a little longer than normal but we finally finished after three off and on days of working on it.  The kids are our tree decorators it seems to be a job they love.  They especially enjoy putting up THEIR ornaments.  

 We have also been working off and on to make ornaments. We made some that you paint, others that are beads that you put into a shape and iron to "fuse" and still more that you use tape, glitter and glitter glue to decorate.  The kids LOVE the crafting.

 A few days ago Kayda was able to participate in the 2nd grade holiday concert.  The entire thing was about Christmas.  They had kids reciting "The Night Before Christmas" and added in familiar songs.  The kids had motions to go with the poem and the songs.  You can't see the whole group in this photo but Kayda is in the front right in her white dress with a red ribbon around her waist and a Santa hat.

 Today we went to do a carriage ride and see Santa.  We ended up jumping from one place to another to see Santa.  We actually ended up at Home Depot, there was no line and he was a FANTASTIC Santa!

 Due to the fact we were the only ones there he was able to talk to each kid individually about their Christmas wishes.

Now we are officially ready for Christmas!