travels (near and far)

Today Kit left for Dallas until late tomorrow.  It's quick trip and the kids and I are in a great routine with filling our days.  Living in Southern California means that we get beautiful weather year round but recently, I feel like we have been seeing spring bloom all around us, so we have been enjoying some neighborhood walks... They have been such a highlight of our days.  

 They talk to each other and I hear them laugh together.  She has her very specific baby talk and he has this sweetness when he talks to her.  It makes my heart so happy!

We always see something new.

We have walked by this house SO many times, but on this particular walk, Ryder shouted, "LOOK MAMA, It's a tree as tall as Daddy!"

I love the way his mind works.  To Ryder, there is nothing greater than his Daddy!

We also saw these flowers:

Ryder and I could not believe the detail... 
What an incredible Creator we have!

I hope that where ever you are you are getting to enjoy a little sunshine!

Time capsule

Here is a little interview that I did with Ryder so that I can have this little "time capsule" of info on my little man.

Favorite toy:Buzz Lightyear

Favorite movie: Toy Story 3

Favorite color: Blue

Favorite thing to do with daddy: "I like to wrestle, then we play fight, then we eat dinner and we do it again!"

Favorite game: "Making my remote control motorcycle race"

Thing that makes you laugh: "daddy makes me laugh when we dance and we fall down and we are silly."

Who do you love to hang out with: Micah, Xander, Max, Ruby

Anything that you are afraid of: "alligators that eat my toes."

Favorite thing to do inside: "When I play with toys in my room." (Cars, Buzz, and Woody) and dance parties

Favorite thing to do outside: " play soccer and basketball with dada and mow the lawn with mama"

Favorite book: Walter Wick I spy books, Brown Bear, Mo Willems books

Favorite place to go in the car: Disneyland and Cars Land

Favorite food: Meatballs

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Eden Marie:

She is walking and making LOTS of baby talk and noises and sounds.

She is climbing and and wanting to do anything her brother does.

She can blow kisses, give high fives, and wave hello and good bye.

She loves to eat. Anything. Anywhere. She loves to eat.

She has 8 teeth right now. Teething has been miserable! She recently had an ear infection. When she is healthy, she sleeps great.

She is a huge ham and we can tell she will have a sense of humor.

She is a thumb sucker.

She is serious when you first meet her until she warms up and then she is nothing but giggles and silliness!

She truly lives up to her name's definition of DELIGHT!

catching up...

Last week we tagged along with Kit to Hume Lake for conference.  It was really fun to be together!

Here are some highlights:

Driving on long trips with the kiddos is not my favorite but I have found the key to my little people:

Snacks for Eden and a Mac product for Ryder:

We love Bravo Farms off of the 99.  Ryder was in heaven!

Then on our way to Hume, we stopped to see the beautiful sequoia trees!

Then we got to camp:

We got to spend time by the lake and take walks with our friends the Larson's.  Ryder and James do SO well together!
They love each other!

 

I love this kid's face!

We walked around the lake:

Explored the new fort that was built in the elementary camp:

I will always remember how sweet it was to carry Eden in her carrier.  She is always so snuggly!

Ryder loved being outside and getting to be in the mountains.  

I will be honest. The first night, we really didn't sleep very much with the kids waking each other up and trying to sleep in a new place.  It's amazing how sleep deprivation makes me feel like I'm going crazy!  I am learning how to be more flexible in traveling with the kids.  I know that it will get easier. 

Overall, we had a wonderful time and we are excited to go back!
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In other crazy news, our little girl is showing herself to be very smart and incredibly fearless:
She moved her chair so that she could climb up on the couch:
(It's so funny how she put her little arm on the arm rest...)

Then she climbed up on the fire house in Ryder's room:
(She has seen Ryder do it, and apparently this girl has a very fearless side...)

She is taking so many steps and walking all over the house and getting into all sorts of stuff.
She is crazy FAST!
Our hands are definitely full with this little girl! 

heading out

We are on our way to Hume Lake for a little conference that Kit is attending.  The kids and I are tagging along and now that the packing is done, I am really excited about the next few days!

(Is it just me or is packing for little people one of the least fun things ever?!)

Ryder helped me with packing by loading up his favorite cars, little Buzz and Woody and his Brown Bear book into his CRAZY cool dinosaur back pack that he got from his aunt colie and uncle tommy for his birthday. He has been waiting to put it  to use!

 At one point he just sat with it, while I was running around cleaning the house and doing laundry of tiny socks and favortie Buzz Lightyear t-shirts.  It was really sweet to watch!

So we will see you next week my friends!  Have a wonderful day!

recent additions to our children's book collection

We recently added some fun new additions to our library and with how much we have enjoyed them, I wanted to pass along the titles to you!  

Flora and the Flamingo is only illustrations, but the pictures are so precious!  Ryder makes up his own story about what is happening in the picture.

 Mo Willems is hilarious.  Some of our favorites of his are all of the "Knufflebunny" books and "Don't Let the Pidgeon Stay Up Late."  Plus you know we have a thing for dinosaurs around here♥.

 Pirate vs. Pirate is a really sweet story about two battling pirates who fall in love.  The illustrations are awesome and you know that we have had pirates on the brain recently.

Tea Rex is a really cute story about inviting a dinosaur over for a tea party.  The illustrations are awesome and I am so excited to add this one to the kids library.

(I love that it is about a brother and sister too!)

Plus I may have added a few to my own collection:

I love Shauna Niequist.

I am saving her book Bread and Wine for our trip to Napa.

(We'll see if I can wait...)

This book A Homemade Year just came out and it's about celebrating special holidays around the liturgical calendar.  I can not wait to try some of the crafts and recipes that she has!

I have been trying to make a habit of taking 20 minutes to read when the kids are down for their afternoon nap.
It has made such a difference on our day.
I can't wait to get into these new additions!

The Pirate Party (a.k.a. Captain Ryder Rae is three!)

On Saturday our baby boy turned three.  We just can't believe how fast time goes by.

Before the party, we had our birthday doughnuts on his special birthday plate.

 His grandi and papa spent the night so they got to be with us to start the day of celebration!

Our little captain:

and his first mate:

It was a perfect day celebrating our son.  We had a scavenger hunt that ended with a treasure chest piñata and lots of candy.  There was sword fighting and dressing up and lots of laughter.  Ryder is still talking about how much fun he had and when we could do it again... We count that as a success.

Our friends Alex took pictures for us and made a little video.  He captured the day perfectly!

ryder's 3rd birthday from Alexander T. Pavone on Vimeo.

Some more pictures:

I am so thankful for the memories that were created that day!

party time

Tomorrow my little man turns three years old.  I just can't believe how fast it goes...

We are getting ready to celebrate big time with our family!

I have been collecting and making stuff for months:

We are having things for people to dress like pirates, go on a scavenger hunt and find treasure...

Ryder is so excited about his pirate party!

I can't wait to celebrate our little man!

Have a great weekend my friends♥.