Overload

I have taken so many pictures and videos lately and I haven't posted in a while...so here is an overload!  Some of these (videos especially) are among my favorites of all time because they capture great clips of the kids' personalities.  They just keep getting cuter and sweeter and I love watching them learn and grow.  

Mother's Day 2013

Andrew was on the road for Mother's day weekend, but he surprised me and came home for a few hours Sunday morning to make me breakfast and help the kids cut me flowers from the backyard and make me cards.  It was so sweet and I felt so happy and lucky.

Amelia got this dress as a hand-me-down and dubbed it her "Mother's Day dress."

This was her idea of posing for the camera.

 Love. These. Kids.

I love this little video!  William is at SUCH a fun age right now.  He talks really well and I love the new little phrases he picks up on every day.  Also, he copies everything Amelia says (and does) and it's so cute (most of the time...).  I also love how at the end he says, "truck!" and runs off.  It reminds me of the movie Up when the dog says, "Squirrel!"

Ballet
Amelia had her first ballet recital this weekend and it was darling.  She really loves ballet and I cry every time I watch her!  She is so sweet up there and does such a good job trying to do all the steps just right. She loves the costume, the bun, the tights and the ballet shoes.

Grandpa and Grandma Visit

Oh, Grandpa and Grandma, we love, love, love when you visit!!  

 I love this video of the kids in the ocean with Gma and Gpa.  I love how William runs out of the water to come and tell me he is in the ocean :) and then the 2 falls...:)

The kids helped me make this beautiful and delicious watermelon cake when Grandma and Grandpa came.  I asked Amelia what we should have for dinner when they came and she yelled, "Flit pea soup!" (Split pea).  That is her favorite meal to request and I love that she thinks that is the most delicious and special meal to make for guests :)

 William loved helping grandpa in the garden.  And we loved having Grandpa help our garden!  He worked so hard and made our yard look better in 3 days than we could have (or would have) in 3 years.

 And Amelia loved using the fallen rose petals to master her mud-pie baking skills

SB Fair

I took the kids to the county fair a couple of weeks ago and when we sat down to listen to some music, Amelia leans over to me and says, "I want to dance on that stage."  So up she went and danced her heart out in front of everyone.  Of course William followed because he does EVERYTHING Amelia does.  This girl loves to dance.

William loved the rides at the fair ($10 for 30 seconds of fun...).  He was so cute and he kept saying, "Wee dis is fun!  I yike it!"  I love him at this age.  He is SO cute.





Extrovert Princess Party
I don't know how two introverts created such an extreme extrovert, but Amelia is an e-x-t-r-o-v-e-r-t.  When I send her to quiet time she cries and says, in a voice of complete despair, "But I get so yonyey" (lonely)!  It's like I sentenced her to a year in solitary confinement, not 30 minutes in her room with her music and toys.  She always wants friends and family to be around and she has a very small personal space bubble (as in, she wants to be touching, hugging, snuggling, or cuddling at all times).  When it is time for a play date to end, she has to plan when the next one will happen so that she has something to look forward to.

So, one day she told me she really wanted to have a party and when I told her that her birthday was not until September, she fell to pieces and began to frantically plan a party for the next day.  I decided to go along with her extroverted ways and see what she came up with.  She planned and executed (with only minimal help from me) a Princess Party complete with invitations, decorations, crafts and lunch.  She invited her two best friends and the party was on.

She decorated our kitchen table with balloons, streamers and lots of tape.

 They made princes crowns and wore dress-up.
These 3 girls love each other so much!  I am so happy that we live so close to them and that they get to play together often.  It doesn't hurt at all that I really like their moms :)

 She even let her little brother come, although he had to be a "ting" (king) and not a princess.
Here he is with marker on his face from decorating his crown.

We had tomato soup and cheese sandwiches for lunch.  

A perfect princess party.

And she still cried when everyone left.  

I think I'm in trouble when she is a teenager.  

I'm already in trouble.

Easter

And here are a couple of pictures from Easter this year.  William was scared of the bunny, but Amelia was so excited to sit on his lap.  

A little switch from last year when William was into the bunny and Amelia was scared to death

This is how we do Easter egg hunts at our house.

Our house

Amelia wanted to make lemonade the other day so we went on a walk down the street to see if we could find any lemons.  

                                  

We didn't find any ripe lemons, but plenty of sour oranges did the trick!

So, these pictures make me think of a post I wanted to do about our new house.  I don't have any pictures of the house, but maybe those will come.  Bottom line is I love our new house.  It is nothing grand and there are a million things I would do to it if I had lots of money.  But I love it here and every day it feels more and more perfect to me.  I love the big windows and abundant natural light.  I love the view from my bedroom window looking out over the natural open space and the majestic mountains.  I love the intense frog chorus at night and the chirping of birds (mockingbirds, sparrows, wrens, blue jays and doves, to name a few) during the day. 

I love that we can walk to the beach.  There are a couple of paths out to the beach.  The kids and I love to invite friends and walk along the big, wide path out by the slough.  We love to see the herons, egrets, hawks and swans.  We love to smell the wild fennel.  We love the eucalyptus groves on the bluffs overlooking the beach.  And we like to walk our stroller straight down the hill to the sand and let the kids play and go “efloring” (exploring) in the sand dunes.  We love to see the dolphins surfing the waves or jumping by the hundreds out by the oil-rigs.  We also like the other path out to the beach.  The one that goes behind the elementary school, through a eucalyptus grove, and through the very edge of the very edgy Isla Vista.  This route leads to a gorgeous beach walk on the bluff.  We like to watch the surfers and say hello to the goats.

I love walking to get our mail.  It always turns into a little sunny afternoon outing with the kids (the pictures above are on our walk to the mail, which is by the lemon tree).  We walk to the mailbox where they take turns trying to put in the key and get so excited over packages.  Then we walk down the sidewalk to the swings.  They swing to the top of the lemon tree squealing the whole time.  Then they get out and run to the orange tree to pick a few tart oranges which they take and eat in their secret hideout in the avocado tree.  They pick lavender flowers to put in my hair.  We sit there basking in the sun with orange peels at our feet and beauty all around and I pinch myself to make sure that I am not dreaming. 

I love our neighbors.  There are many young families with kids.  There are also tons of original owners.  A majority of the people we meet have lived her since these homes were built.  They all say they love it here and have just never wanted to leave.  Everyone is so friendly, and if you see someone walking around the neighborhood, you always say hi and introduce yourself because you know they are fellow “Storke Ranch Residents” and somehow that makes you feel friendly and bonded and I love that.

I love the pool and the hot tub and we find ourselves there all the time.  Amelia and William think the hot tub is their own personal kiddie pool!  We love spending our afternoons hanging out under the palm trees with friends (old and new) while lounging in the hot tub.  Once again, I pinch myself.

I love walking Andrew in to work.  It is some of our best time to connect and talk.  I love walking him in and letting the kids run around at the baseball field, ride the tractor, hit in the batting cages, and just be around dad at work.  Since he spends so much time at work, being so close physically makes me feel like we are still connected.  Oh, yes, he’s at work, but he’s just right over there.  That feels nice.

So yes, I’d like to paint the inside and outside of the house, I’d like to decorate and furnish, I’d like to add, swap, and change things, etc and etc and etc, but the bottom line is, I love this house.  I love it because of it’s location and all of the natural beauty it offers us.  And I love it because it feels like home.  

Amelia dancing with friends on our front porch

Tea party with dad in the backyard

Morning snuggles with Grandma