What a difference a couple of kids make!  Celebrating Father’s Day is even more special now as I watch our children honor their father.  The love and joy they have and the excitement of getting to spend every minute of Father’s Day with their dad is priceless.  I have to confess that watching my wonderful husband parent is also one of the joys of our marriage.  He is the most incredible dad any kid could ever hope for!

Walter always holds us up and holds us together!  He is most definitely the patriarch of this family!

He is patient, loving, caring and makes each kid feel very special for who they are and how they relate!  I feel that any other person is going to have to compete awfully hard to fill the BFF role in their lives when they’ve “outgrown” their daddy!

He is an amazing teacher!  He engages them and enjoys it as much as they do.

And more than anything, he has an incredible sense of humor!

Honey, thanks for being such a great father and doing it with a smile and so naturally!  Our kids are so lucky to have you – and so am I!

Love you!

Every holiday or occasion in my family growing up was marked by a pool party.  Not much has changed since then with Grammy and Papa down the street and family nearby!  We’re very lucky to have our family close and hopefully this time next year even more will have moved south!

On Easter Sunday we went to church (our biannual visit) for the service and Easter egg hunt.  The kids had a blast!

And Walter got to spend more time than usual in front of the camera!

Our church also has a butterfly release after service each year and both kids were finally able to enjoy it!

Kate was so curious!

Noah’s butterfly didn’t want to go very far!

And we thought the gathering was a perfect excuse for some impromptu family photos!

After church we went to my parents’ and swam and ate like kings.  Unfortunately we have no photos of that because Walter got sick on the way over.  It’s very unlike him to sit out so I knew it was best to give him a break.  You’ll have to see our new tans in the next post!

Happy St. Patty’s Day!  The fantastic holiday where we all pretend to be Irish and over indulge on corned beef!  Today is also a special day for our cousin, Kim Jensen, and friend Robby Friedman ~ Happy Birthday to you both!

I wanted to share these fun photos with you!  We bought a hat as a prop for a baby but never found the right time or kid to put it on.  Noah decided it was a toy and we had fun watching him try to squeeze it on his massive head.

Aunt Raven even got in on the action!

May your pockets be heavy and your heart be light, May good luck pursue you each morning and night! ~Irish Blessing

There are so many things I will miss when the kids are older.  So many little things.  Sure, I’ll miss being able to pick out their music and clothes, because let’s face it - teenagers are no good at that stuff, but I’ll also miss who they are right now. 

Noah has a flair for mispronunciation and made up words.  I already miss his emphatic “BA”, which could have been anything but was most often his pacifier when he was a toddler.  I still love that yellow is lello, and Ayla is Awaa but I’m sure those will change too.  His newest bump in the learning curve is telling time.  Every morning he comes into our room and announces it’s time to get up.  And every morning Walter groggily asks him what time it is.  It’s usually 5 or 6 something (but in the pattern of number number number), which means it’s not time to get up, but sometimes we get this treat – it’s mystery one five (or whatever is after the mystery).  It took us a bit to figure it out but that’s 7:15.  Apparently this – 7 – and this – ? – are pretty similar in his mind.  To me it’s  a mystery how he only manages to sleep past 7:00am once a week!  But, isn’t that the cutest thing ever?  Noah is also a huge fan of renaming people right now.  I don’t know how he chooses names, or sometimes where they come from, but it always makes us laugh.  His teach at school, Miss Molly, is Molls.  His best friend there is Charlie, Noah calls him Charles.  The other night I was Brisket but I’m most often Dads – that’s not a typo.  He loves to be silly!

Kate is still into pointing and grunting.  Her school tells us she can talk a little – Mickey, No, and Mine – but we haven’t heard it.  She mimics us sometimes and can almost get some similar sounds with the right amount of syllables out but she definitely understands.  You can tell her just about anything, or make any request, and she’s on it.  Whether or not she wants to do it remains a completely different story.  We joke that she has an attitude problem but I’m hoping it’s just that she’s opinionated.  Right now she wants to do everything Noah does, especially the dangerous stuff, and absolutely everything by herself.

All of these traits and habits will one day be a distant memory but I wanted to put them here so we never forget just how darn cute they could be!  Another thing I’m sure we’ll miss… how they enjoy Valentine’s Day…

The Queen of the Self Feed -

Apparently not even 3.75 years of practice makes you a clean donut eater -

What do you miss about your child’s childhood, or what do you think you will miss the most?

That’s it, I’m officially a mom.  In case the whole pregnancy, labor, delivery mess didn’t convince me, this is it.  I spent my day making treats for the kids’ bake sale.  Always trying hard not to take ourselves too seriously, and because I can’t eat chocolate, I didn’t “bake” just anything… Noah and I made popcorn balls! 

Popcorn balls have been one of my favorite treats for as long as I can remember.  We used to make them at my grandparents’ house every Christmas;  I have such fond memories of those times!  Today I use the same recipe written by my grandmother in pencil on an ancient index card. 

Every time time I make them I manage to do something wrong; some things never change.  The recipe is very simple.  Make popcorn, make this eewy, gooey, sticky sauce, poor the sauce over the popcorn and form into balls.  The first year I made these on my own I let 3 milliseconds pass between pouring the boiling sauce over the popcorn and attempting to form balls.  I don’t remember having to wait for anything to cool as a kid!  I also don’t remember how long it took that to heal but I’ve never done it since!  This time I put all the ingredients in the sauce at once, two are supposed to go in at the very end of the boiling process.  Oops.  They still taste great!

And because I enjoy my memories of popcorn ball making so fondly I figured I’d pass on the tradition.  Here’s how it went down -

Noah, Monkey and I pressed the popcorn into balls.  Noah was in charge of picking stray kernels off my hands for his snack.

He was also excellent at finding all the unpopped, hard seed kernels and putting them aside.

Don’t you love his dimple!?

I made a little one for him -

In order to bribe him for this -

Did I mention these things are sticky!?

We also baked some double chocolate chip muffins for the boring people at the sale.

Happy Valentine’s Day!  I hope your festivities are just as sweet!

For Christmas Noah got an ant farm from his Aunt Nikki.  At first I was a little surprised and not exactly in the fun, excited way.  Then I found out that to get the ants for the farm you had to order them BY MAIL.  Again, not excited – but, we did.  We sent away for the special ants that eat the special gel in this modern ant farm.  Did you know insects can be MAILED?!!?

Well the ants arrived and we put them in their new home (and by “we” I mean Walter).  Although they looked like big, mean, red ants, I figured so long as they were in the farm it really didn’t matter.  Once they got acclimated though and started to make this joint their home we all became fascinated.  It’s so interesting to watch them – from a distance – and see how they make tunnels and problem solve.  The very first tunnel they built went right into the wall of the farm.  D’oh!  They’ve gotten used to the surroundings though and this is what they’re up too…

Here’s what it looks like from a little further back.  Damn, ants, they can’t get anything right – we told them to spell Noah.  They are missing the o and the a and the h is upside down!  Just kidding, we have no idea what N4 is or where they think they’re going!

Yes, crickets again on the blog.   I can’t even begin to explain how busy we are.  Not to complain but things are pretty hectic.  Good hectic though.  A few months ago Walter and I gave in to all the encouragement to develop our photo hobby.  Well, it’s been mad!  We are booked, and some days double booked, for every day until we leave for Canada at the end of the year.  Do you know how many photos that is to edit?  Plus Walter has a real job, plus I have two weddings, oh yeah – and then there’s the kids.  It’s a little nuts.  So please forgive me.  January should be much less busy!

Last week we celebrated Thanksgiving.  It is, hands down, my favorite holiday.  I love everything about it!  When I was a kid we would all watch the Macy’s Parade while mom and dad cooked and we helped out when we were willing as we could.  The smells, the smiles, the comedy in the kitchen… it was awesome!  To this day I refuse to miss the parade – I even DVR’d it once!  And this year was no different.  We had the Friedman’s over for breakfast and enjoyed the parade together.  We went to my parents and got there in plenty of time for the “comedy in the kitchen”.  Dinner was amazing, as usual, and it was great to enjoy each other’s company.  The kids didn’t make it home awake which, unfortunately, means we didn’t get to see Walter’s family.  So in the spirit of thanksgiving, tell me – what are you thankful for?

I am thankful for family…

I am thankful for my beautiful little girl and the abilities and materials we have to ensure she is care free for as long as possible…

I am thankful for my gorgeous son who has the best sense of humor, the most mischievous grin, the nicest imaginary friend – Chico, and the ability to outrun any photo attempt on Thanksgiving!

I am thankful for my father’s health, which isn’t what it used to be, but is still enough to make him a great dad, grandfather, and amazing chef!  He has always cooked the majority of our Thanksgiving dinners and he never disappoints!

I am thankful for my mom.  My mom is… my mom and everything moms are to every little girl when they’re 5.  I can’t imagine what I would ever do without her, I don’t even want to consider it.  Now that I’m older and I can appreciate everything she is and everything she’s been through I could never live far from her and could never go long without seeing or talking to her.  I am so thankful, despite any bumps in the road, for my relationship with my mom.

I am thankful for the laughs from the “comedy in the kitchen”… really, we laugh WITH them…

I am thankful for old china that’s only dusted off for the holidays and for my mom’s amazing pie…

I am thankful for my dad’s stuffing, the one dish at Thanksgiving I couldn’t live without and the one dish I could eat every single day for the rest of my life!

I am thankful for the “spirits” of the holidays!

I am thankful for our family tradition that says on the first Thanksgiving you have teeth, you shall get the drumstick.  Kate was pretty thankful for that too!

And more than anything, I am thankful for my husband, who avoided most efforts to be on the other side of the camera on Thanksgiving.  He is the most appreciative, inspiring and encouraging person I have ever had in my life.  He gives everything of himself and has made me who I am simply by believing in me.

I am also thankful for people who read my blog… they make me feel like I’m not talking to myself

For our blog Halloween feels never ending.  So here we go again, here’s one more step down Halloween Road, I promise there’s only a few more.  The older the kids get the more activities we seem to get roped into!  So here are our ”fall” photos.  I say “fall” because, well let’s face it… our palm trees aren’t changing color anytime soon and our big cold front, when it dipped down to 81 degrees, only lasted a day.

So here are the kids in “fall” clothes in 90 degree weather.  Apparently that’s the best time to go to a pumpkin parking lot, um, pallet, um… patch since there is no one else there!

I love how she looks at him!  Noah will probably never find someone who is as crazy about him as his sister!

The pumpkin recliner.  She sat there until we made her move.  Apparently pumpkins are comfy!  Who knew!?

Noah got to pick out our pumpkin this year.  He’ll need to work on his muscles if he wants a bigger one next year!

And for laughs I have to contrast Kate’s photo with baby pumpkins from this year…

And last…

I guess thinks are looking up… please don’t call Child Services!

This year’s pumpkin actually got carved!  Far before Halloween though because pumpkins rot in 90 degree weather – and fast!  So we carved him one Saturday morning and it was quite an experience!

Noah wanted to design the face himself.  We let him draw out what he wanted and I promise you – this was the best of the worst in the idea department!

I opened him up and it thoroughly grossed out Noah.  I didn’t realize little boys who like bugs and lizards might not like pumpkin guts.

But he loved watching me carve it…

And he was in love with the end result!  Or maybe the fire, but how can you not love this smile!?

Don’t they look so excited?  We’re really into the photographic torture!

Later in the day…

And that night…

Poor Mr. Pumpkin only lasted a few days before completely rotting out.  RIP “Doc” – as Noah deemed him!

Happy (belated) Halloween!  Wow, what a month it’s been, and it’s already over!  I can’t believe it!  We’ve been running around like wild, crazy people trying to cram fall activities into summer weather.  The good news is we’ve been spending time as a family and if the blog (and the housework) get a little neglected because of it, I’m ok with that.

This year Noah picked out his own costume.  He knew exactly what he wanted to be – a monkey.  And when we gave him all the monkey options, he immediately picked one out.  We even let time pass, offered up other ideas, wondered if it was a phase, but he wouldn’t waver.  “Mom, I said I want to be a monkey!”.  A monkey he was, a darn cute one!

Kate had no choice in the matter.  We have been storing 4 costumes for her from before she was born.  They were all sized 6-12 months so each had it’s own obstacles as Kate is definitely not a 6-12 month size kid.  But like with everything, she was a trooper and make them all work!  Before the end of the holiday we definitely got our money’s worth out of all of them, we had so many parties, activities, photos, and trick or treating.

Since Halloween comes and goes so quickly we decided to photograph Noah in his costume before the big day.  The photos came out great and everyone had a lot of fun!  It spurred a movement.  We’re now the go to people for your Halloween costume photos!  We photographed a lot of adorable kids this season and these short costume sessions almost always leave us in hysterics!  Here are a few from the past few weeks…

We have more costume photos, it was super popular!, but we also have photos of our kids from the pumpkin patch, Halloween parties, school parties… etc. and I promise to get to them, just not tonight.  Tonight I will go and relax and enjoy the peace and quiet that the time change brings.  Sweet dreams!

This 4th of July holiday weekend we took off for a mini vacation.  We headed south to my very favorite hotel, the Westin Diplomat in Hollywood.  It was everything we hoped it would be and more!  The weather was perfect, the pools were fun, the beds were super comfy, the kids were even well behaved!  We were lucky enough to have a lot of friends with the same plans and because of that we enjoyed many laughs and large meals.

Here are a few photos from our relaxing weekend, there are many more to come -

First, let me show you why I love this place so much…

Yes, really.  And yes, really, these are photos from this weekend.  The pool and beach didn’t look like this for long but they were still very beautiful and very relaxing when other people showed up.  This is one of four pools at the hotel so you never noticed that the resort was bustling; there’s so much room to spread out!

And this is how excited we all felt when the plans were made and we were on our way.  A family vacation was so overdue!

The one photo we got of the kids together this weekend…

She may owe that pole dinner.

At the pool…

Our friends Bettina and Dan and their daughter Helena happened to be staying the weekend at the resort as well.  The kids loved swimming together!

Rachel, Robby, and Ayla were also at the resort as were thier friends Nicole and Chris and their children Nicholas and Carsen.  You haven’t lived until you’ve looked for a dinner reservation for 11 people 30 minutes before you’re hoping to eat!

Nicholas is such a cool kid!  A lover boy with a little Dennis the Menace mixed in for good measure.  We had a blast, he has such personality!  At one point I was holding Helena (above) and Nicholas (below) was playing with us.  Someone joked about how easily I could pass them off as my own kids.  I’ll just have to borrow all the redheaded children and wish their parents luck with the stubborness and sass that comes with the color! 

Chris and Carsen                                                                     Little Miss

For the fourth we were unknowingly misinformed and decided to take our chances watching fireworks from Rachel and Robby’s room.  Little did we know we would have been much better off on the beach, where we originally planned to go, but then we would have missed this amazing view of the city and the light show.

The city after a few cocktails…

The monkeys…

And a certain little someone learned a new trick while on vacation… she now STANDS!  Where does the time go!?  Buh-bye baby Kate, hello toddler land!

And just for fun we relived a few moments.  I told you this place was my favorite!

(Noah at 4 months)

(Kate at 9 months, who doesn’t know how not to smile)

(Noah at 7 months)

(Kate at 9 months who apparently heard she was going to be late for lunch)

Still think they look exactly alike?!

Unfortunately when we got home reality smacked us in the face!  Monday was right around the corner, grocery shopping needed to get done and the laundry fairy never showed up this weekend.  Oh, and there was a leak in our roof that was flooding our laundry room because of all the rain.  Fun times!  At least we’re tan!