Gram and Papa's Visit

We had so much fun having Gram and Papa here to visit after Christmas! We climbed the sand hill, went to the beach, ate at Chick-fil-a (Gram's favorite), did some shopping, played lots of games of UNO, watched some movies, got hair cuts by Gram (Spencer, Cal, and both girls), went to the zoo (me, mom, and the kids), scouted out camp sites in Carpinteria (hoping to plan something for the near future) and just had a total blast! We celebrated the last day of 2013 by packing up and getting ready to spend 3 days and nights in Oceanside (more coming on that)! What a great visit! 

One thing I love about my parents coming to visit is the individual time that they give to each of the kids. They always make our kids feel so loved!

21 months

Had some cute pics of our little man, so thought I'd do a quick update now that he's 21 months old!

Calvin LOVES mint - gum, candy canes, breath mints - he loves it all. I can't leave my toothpaste laying around or he'll grab it and just sit and suck on it! We cant keep chap stick around either because he eats it all! Crazy boy!

His favorite phrase this past month was "Stop it!" The girls and I had to consciously work on taking this phrase out of our vocabulary and replacing it with other things like, "I love you".

He also loves telling me to "look". He's constantly wanting to show me everything - all the necklaces he's wearing, that he's put his jacket on, his cute smile, a new hat, or even just when he wants my attention. I love hearing this little voice say,"Mama look, Mama look". Then he'll move onto "Elle look." "Madi look." It's adorable!

He says things in complete sentences now. Instead of just saying "moon" he'll now say, "there's the moon". I actually just noticed it the other night in one of the books we've read together since he was a baby. He started pointing to everything saying, "that's a bone", "there's the swing", "it's a carrot", etc. I've been loving all the conversations we're able to have now.

Cal's definitely become one of the kids. He's super observant of everything his sisters do (yes, I constantly have to remind the girls about what kind of example they're setting). I'll ask a question - "who wants _______?" Cal used to hear them say, "I do, I do" or "Meeee" and then he'd copy them, but now he'll try to say it before they do. He always wants to join in on the fun!

Calvin's had all sorts of weird sleep habits this month - least favorite being waking up at 4:30am for a week straight! I refused to get him til 6, but it's still not fun hearing him calling for me that early. I started learning that I can't let him take as long of naps in the afternoon. Two hours is all he needs for him to still sleep 11 hours at night (rarely does 12 hours).

Early wake-ups made it especially hard on the days we had to run errands at 10am:

 And tired boys = cranky boys!

 Much rather prefer my happy boy:

And I adore how much he loves his books!

Can hardly believe that TWO is just around the corner!

Christmas 2013!

I can hardly believe another Christmas has already come and gone. Spencer and I were both in agreeance that this Christmas flew by faster than any other. It was a very busy month with one activity after the other, each day passing faster than the one before. I tired my very hardest to slow things down and enjoy all the wonderful things this season brings, but at the end of the day it all seemed like such a whirlwind.

As for our Christmas day, I was up first (as always). I had to sneak out and get a picture of the tree. I heard the girls 15 minutes later. Cal slept til almost 6:30 as did Spencer, and then the fun began!

Sleepy faces:

Santa brought Cal an adjustable basketball hoop (goes up to 6 feet) and planes!

Elle got a hula hoop, bat and ball, and the Royal Family!

 Madi got her globe and the Ariel necklace that she asked for 2 years ago (Santa finally got his act together and was able to find it for her)!

Per Jenkins tradition, the kids only opened stockings in the morning. We did let them open our big family gift though since everyone was dying to know what was under the big blanket! Guesses were barbie doll house and desk. SO excited about having a piano in our home and getting Madi back into piano lessons. Spencer plays by ear (just another one of his amazing talents) but would also love to take piano lessons!

After stockings and unveiling of the piano, we ate our Christmas oranges, watched a movie that Santa brought (Ariel), and then got ready to head over to Boppi and Grandpa Al's for Christmas breakfast. Wish I would have gotten a picture of our delicious breakfast and the beautiful table - mom's table settings for the holidays are always so picture perfect- like right out of a magazine.

I was having too much fun watching the kids play this reindeer antler toss game though!

After breakfast we headed home for Cal's nap. Spence and I were able to squeeze a nap in too! We also busted open our new UNO game (another Santa present) and now have a new favorite family game!
The girls got a little restless by the end of nap time. Elle was begging to open presents and becoming a little impatient.

Growing up, my family was always done opening all present by 8am. Spencer's family on the other hand, didn't open til after dinner! When we got married, we compromised and opened in the afternoon, usually after lunch. But Cal didn't wake up til 3which is when Spencer's parents arrived, so that's when we went to the tree.

Spencer passed out presents one at a time and made sure no greedy children crossed the little white rope! It was a wonderful afternoon but I didn't like how late it was when we were done. The kids just wanted to play with their presents and I wanted to spend time with them, but it was time to start dinner.

What an awesome gift our landlords got the girls! They worked on these jewelry boxes for probably an hour straight before I had to insist that they stop to clean up so we could set the table for dinner!

I like the concept of teaching patience and having a break between stockings and other presents, but pretty sure we'll do it earlier next year - especially since Cal will most likely have dropped his nap by then.

Christmas dinner is one meal we haven't totally decided on. We definitely want the tradition of something quick and easy, but also fun and something we all like. This year we decided to try out paninis. It was fun, they were delicious, and pretty easy, but not all the kids loved them. We've talked about taking on my family's Christmas Eve tradition of finger foods - salami, cheese, crackers, veggie tray, jigglers, etc and do that for Christmas night. I loved it growing up - super easy and totally kid friendly.

Lucky for us, our fun didn't end after Christmas. My parents arrived the evening of the 26th! It was fun to have a night to exchange presents with them.

More to come on all our adventures with Gram and Papa in town!

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was absolutely perfect! Spencer and I have spent a lot of time talking about what traditions we want to create with our kids and the things we want them to remember. One thing I always want to remember from this day is Spencer's excitement - about everything! I love how excited he gets about the holidays and how traditions (even the little ones) are such a big deal to him. 

He got up early with the kids and loaded them up to pick up breakfast at Rolling Pin (best donuts around)! Since I didn't want to miss the fun, but also wanted to get a run in, I left at the same time, but on foot. I ran 2 miles out and then turned around for the 2 miles back just as they passed me heading up Las Posas. I made it home 15 minutes later. They had just finished eating their oatmeal (I insisted they eat something healthy before filling their bellies with sugar), and were diving into the buttermilk bar goodness! 

After breakfast I headed out for some last minute shopping - it was nice to have Spencer home and be able to get it done while it was still early. Then in the early afternoon Spencer took the girls to see the movie "Frozen". 

We wanted to go as a whole family, but it was Cal's nap time (he never would have lasted through a whole movie anyway), and a rather large Christmas gift was scheduled to arrive while they were out! I was happy to stay home and get things ready for the evening.

Living in Camarillo, close to family is such a blessing, but it can also be a bit tricky when trying to create traditions for our own family. This year was unique in that it was the first year Spencer's parents had no other kids at home. Since Jocelyn and Michael were here before Christmas, we did an early Christmas Eve celebration on the 22nd at Boppi and Grandpa Al's. Mom made her famous Clam Chowder and corn bread, and Dad read the Christmas Story. We wanted to make sure to act out the Nativity with them so Jocelyn could star as Mary since she recently gave birth to her own first born son just 2 months before. Collin played a perfect baby Jesus. Madi insisted on being the Angel, and Elle was thrilled to be the shepherd.

It was fun for the kids to have a dress rehearsal before their actual performance on the 24th!

On Christmas Eve Mom and Dad joined us in our home. Spencer made sea scallop, clam, and sweet italian sausage chowder that we had 3 years ago on Christmas Eve (the last time we did our own thing) and I made corn bread. The kids liked it ok. Our goal is to find something that we all love and look forward to - which is a hard thing  at this stage of life, with our picky little eaters!

After dinner we headed into the family room for the Nativity. Karlee had sent us the script she'd written with lots of singing and speaking parts. This year I just read it, but it's only going to get better in the years to come when we can assign speaking parts to the kids! 

Cal was the first to choose his costume (Spencer's bath robe from when he was a kid).

Elle wanted to wear what Cal was wearing (since that's what she wore at our dress rehearsal, but Cal wouldn't have it any other way). She grudgingly put on the angle costume since Madi had chosen to be Mary, but put up a stink about it the entire time. 

Finally, I took her out of the room and had her pick out another shepherd costume and we were back to smiles! Phew!

After the Nativity, Spencer read "The Night Before Christmas" to the kids (something his dad always did growing up).

I especially enjoyed watching Spencer's parents watch him read to our children. 

 It was such a treat having them in our home this year!

After the story, we set out cookies and milk for Santa and went to get into jammies when we heard something outside (we'd been tracking Santa's sleigh and knew that he was scheduled to pass by around 6:30pm- something fun they do here in Camarillo)! So mid changing clothes, we grabbed the kids and ran out just in time to see Santa sleigh's, all lit up, flying overhead! We all excitedly waved and yelled for Santa! A perfect way to end the night!

Christmastime

Meeting Santa:

 Writing Christmas cards:

 Madi wrote one to Mrs. Pidduck and 3 for the school crossing guards. Elle wrote 3 for her preschool teachers (she has 2 assistant teachers).

 I love watching Madi's face when she does her fancy writing!

 Loved these cute cards Madi gave with a bag of carmel corn to each crossing guard that helps us get to school every morning.

Teacher gifts with cards inside:

Class parties (we only went to Elle's):

Christmas Sunday with the Junior Primary (Elle front row far left, Madi first row standing on right):

 Senior Primary (we were missing a lOT of kids this week - over half of our Senior Primary was missing - we normally have 35):

 Got this idea from Tisha for a Primary teacher Christmas gift:Christmas lights on Gemini street:

The "Who-Ville" house has always been Elle's favorite! One of Madi's favorites - Santa pops his head out of the window and then goes back in: One of my favorites:Poor quality picture, but it's always fun when family is in town to walk the street with (Mom & Dad Jenkins, Jocelyn, Michael, and Collin met us this year):

 Enjoying the Christmas tree:

 When I asked for a smile . . .

Christmas time with little kids is the best!