Happy birthday, Grandma, from Steve and Julie

Will's Uncle Steve and Aunt Julie sent us all out to dinner for Grandma's birthday. We went to the Vineyard Rose at South Coast Winery - a beautiful restaurant with fabulous food. What a treat! And Grandma seemed so thrilled that we all got to go out because of her. What a wonderful, wonderful gift for her.






The kids were all so great and well-behaved during our amazing dinner. People kept commenting on how nice our kids are. Just look at the little angels. ;) (I'm so glad God answered our prayers.)


Grandma was so cute and smiled a lot. She is so very sweet.




Zane took these pictures of Will and me. It's nice to have a kid old enough to actually take a picture for us once in a while!



Sullivan enjoyed gourmet foods like bananas and Funjuns. Funny girl!



At the end of our perfect dining experience, our waitress brought Grandma a special birthday slice of cheesecake. Of course, G.G. didn't want to eat without us, so we had it boxed up and took it home to eat with ice cream sundaes. What a fun and delicious evening out! Thank you so much, Aunt Steve and Uncle Julie!!! ;) (The boys called them that once, and it stuck.)

Peltzer Farm

Last week I took the boys on a field trip to Peltzer Farm, about five minutes from our house (we LOVE it here!) There were originally 17 kids from our co-op signed up to go, and most of them got sick! So, it turned out to be just us and one other little girl. While we were waiting for Danae and her mom to arrive, the boys posed next to this super-cool motorcycle.





The kids enjoyed the petting zoo... especially Levi! He loved anything that slightly resembled his "Lollie." You'd think he'd never been around farm animals before! (And notice his red crocks - they are so goofy and he NEVER leaves home without them!)


I had to snap this guy... one very ginormous "Lollie."


I thought I'd better take a picture of these "lionhead" rabbits. You know, since Titus is partial to bunnies. ;)


The corn maze was especially fun! The kids LOVED trying to find their way through it.




Included in the farm tour was a "jack-o-lantern-sized" pumpkin. Hmmm.... not so sure this is accurate. The boys each got to pick out a pumpkin from one area where they were all very small. But they didn't seem to care.


The kids!


The boys and their punkins.


I'm missing my little girl here!



Funny faces!

Our Furry Surprise!

Meet Diego! We thought we were getting him in November at 12 weeks, but his family needed to move the pups along sooner, due to some allergy issues. We were totally surprised to learn, today, that he was ready to come home! He is an 8-week old Golden Retriever, and we really, really love him. We hope Jake learns to love him soon too... he's not totally sure yet. :)

So handsome!

About a month ago, I noticed Titus pulling his books very close to his face while reading. So, I took him for an eye exam and he needed glasses, just for reading! He could hardly wait the 2-3 weeks for his glasses to be ready for pick-up, and he is crazy about them (and VERY careful with them)! Isn't he adorable??

Happy 83rd Birthday, Grandma!

To celebrate sweet Grandma's special day, we invited the Alix family to join us. They have known and loved "Grandma Laurel" for years, and we knew she would love to see them! Sean and Mary Kay are two of our favorite people in the world and it was wonderful, as always, to spend the evening with them!



We had a Mexican fiesta for Grandma. I made green chile chicken enchiladas, beans and guacamole, and Mary Kay brought her delicious Mexican lasagna. Of course, I served everything on my hand-painted Talovera from Mexico, which Zane refers to as my "hispanic plates." That doesn't sound quite as fancy, does it?


Bailey was very cute with Sullivan. She was like her little mommy all evening.


All our kiddos get along so well. (Levi is missing because he was in trouble.) Sydney, Bailey and Luke are a joy to have around. As you can see, Sulli is smitten with little Luke. She followed him around much of the evening saying, "Friend," and patting him on the back.


OK... he's back now. ;)



I made an Emeril Lagasse cake we love called, crazily enough, "Gigi's Carrot Cake!" It's so delicous, and Grandma loved it. I didn't have 83 candles, so I just used 3. ;)