Thanksgiving in Red Bluff

We had a mellow-by-Heffernan-standards Thanksgiving in Red Bluff this week with Oma, Opa, Nana, Pops, Maureen, Doug and their 4 kids and Brian and I and our 4. It was the smallest kids table we've ever had :) We went up early Tuesday and spent all day Wednesday driving up even farther North to check out some ranches and wide open country.

Gramparey came by Monday night to say goodbye (they are in Nashville waiting for ABA's baby- due tomorrow!) and brought the girls snow globes that plug into a USB port from Walgreens. Gotta love that Grampa!

heading up Tuesday - stop at Granzella's for sandwiches and ice cream

dogpile on Dad while he's trying to work

Tiny Tess in Oma Specs

and a 5:40AM wakeup call Wednesday to drive up North!! Kids were troopers. I was grumpy for a few minutes but I got over it :)

Star PJs in Sprinty before Sunrise

Got our map! (and who are we kidding... a GPS too :)

this kid was cracking me up the whole drive - showing off her "funny faces"

Arrival! using their legs to get some energy out

barn jumpers checking out the hay stacks

and piled 9 of us in a pickup to check out the trails - sardines!

cold water trough with a thin sheet of ice on top - girls were fascinated

and I was cold!

girlies in a field

they declared this their new favorite spot to run. I agree

Tess was mad because the girls put a piece of ice in her hood- stinkers!

stop at Dolly's Diner for burgers and beers. Etna Brewery Co beers!

back to Oma's for NAPS

and waiting for cousins to arrive!

salt dough ornaments with the kids (Aunt Kat usually brings a fun craft so I had to try and step it up - she's way better!)

Tess has become a Daddy's girl overnight. She wants to no one else!

hanging out with cousin Molly

and this JJ never stops entertaining us, even when she doesn't mean to! Crazy hair and static is an awesome combo

waiting around watching the bird on the BBQ

Kids table

and sweet Ellie bathed all of the kids after dinner!!! what a treat

heading home on Friday - quick stop at the Nut Tree but avoided the throngs of traffic heading into the outlets, Black Friday sounds awful.

and home to unpack the car and find four cute neighbor girls sneaking through the fence - that's a lot of girls between 2 houses!! Happy to be home again!

pretty much sums up Thanksgiving week - and every week!

Land of Nod Trunk Show

We had so much fun hosting a Land of Nod trunk show at The Makery last Thursday night! We met new friends, gave away Nod toys and crafted elfies and paper flowers. AND got everyone excited for the Land of Nod Toy Shop coming next week to downtown Los Altos!! Use discount code "makery" online for 15% off through Thursday!

Red Bluff for Mark's 40th

We had an awesome weekend up in Red Bluff to celebrate Uncle Mark (aka Uncle Clarky or Hot Dog) turning 40! We planned a pig roast at our house in the Bay Area but it was a hard weekend for Opa/Tom to travel so everyone rallied up north for a weekend of family food and fun. What else is there!?

Friday drive up to Red Bluff - 

Sprinter arrival - takes a beating on road trips!

new IKEA kids ware for Oma. and Beer Camp brews for the adults.

crazy kids - dress up upon arrival everytime

wow JJ. Not sure what to say about this outfit. Just don't hail a cab to the Palamino Room.

Smily Tess (who was up sick all night coughing and feverish!) 

cozy cousins fireside

5 sister-in-laws and 5 baby girls on hip. #howweroll

showtime. (or kid jail?)

Morning buddies JJ and OD. With a cattle stick thing.

orange slices for snack. not just for soccer teams.

heff brought good red wine from his friend and told his siblings not to chug it. Oma joked she only got a thimble. haha.

why so mad J? (backwards inside out pants)

and then... the pig roast!

cracklin'

and pheasant phun. Good huntin' Heff.

Homemade bagels by Uncle Mark Sunday morning. YUM.

and kid chaos.

my big girl in the barn

and Tiny snoozing in the crib finally. Gheto fixed by Heff. Hand me down cribs just don't last! :)

Maisie - Today IS Awesome.

Brothers. (Heff looks short next to these giants! but he was on a slope :)

love the different reactions to de-feathering the bird.

HAPPY 40th HOT DOG!

ABA... soon to be MOM-BA

My baby sister Ann is about to have her own baby!!! We are so excited - she isn't finding out what it is but since she has NINE nieces... anybody want to guess?! I think girl :) She was out to visit in October for her baby shower - always so much fun to see her all the way from Nashville. can't wait for the Baby Williams countdown!!! Love you ABA.

Bbay shower helpers - girls are sooo excited.

and of course we snuck off for some shopping when she was here (and lunch) which means Jannie and Ann harrassed me to have 2 seconds of patience to try stuff on and convinced me to slightly update my jeans and flip flops wardrobe. Doesn't really work though but nice try mom and sis.

Dad Love

Never enough love for this guy. A few more pics of life lately with Dad... we are the luckiest five girls to get to be taken care of, fed well, read to, driven safely around, doted on and loved by "this guy right here" as JJ calles him. Heff is one of a kind... you and me kid!

back from Alaska- our mountain man! (in JJ's favorite shirt she tells everyone when he wears it)

even the big girl gets snuggles.

JJ looking back for her Dad - after she insists every morning he doesn't leave the house without her. 

and even this momma's girl has come around - another Dad-lover coming right up!

lucky little ladies - all of us!

Crazy town + Scarlett = the best kinda crazy!

We love our crazy life with these four girlies! Our house is usually loud, messy chaotic and... crazy. Just the way I love it! And we get to add to the craziness by having adorable smily SCARLETT here everyday while Auntie Emand Uncle James are hard at work! Scarlett likes to socialize and so she comes to our house with her nanny to hang out with her cousins... it's a circus but we are so blessed to have cousin time everyday with this sweet girl. 

Uncle James hung out in DTLA with us one day - babies in PLAY (when ABA was here too!) 

and we joke Martin who runs Red Racer (and used to be the Bumble barista) looks just like James - only edgy :) here are the twins meeting in person for the first time after we told them both 100 times they look like each other.

Spanish music class at PLAY - Tiny and Scar.

and we all went up to Kinder assembly one Friday - I had Scarlett in the Ergo and Heff was holding Tiny for a minute, parents were very confused :) Scar loves her Emmy!

Sweet girl! thanks for hanging out with us - and thanks Em and James for braving traffic to get the girls together everyday!! #cousinlove

Girls Lately - October 2013

These crazy girls! Just catching up on some of the latest of the craziness. Dad took the picture above (it's his new screensaver) after a chalk paint Sunday when Mom was at the flea market. 

and tiny in her ADORABLE sweater JP from The Makery made for her - it's amazing!!

JJ gets to hang out with Tess all day while big sisters are at school - she likes to play protetive big sis

but Maisie is the most maternal and protective of Tiny Tess, she looooves her little buddy baby

Maisie and I went to say hi to Francie at her lunch table after she started full days in October - she gets pretty excited about hot lunch!

and I helped out in Francie's classroom one day for the STEM lab (science, technology, engineering and math) and the Kinders were way better than I was at programming the BeeBots

Maisie and JJ sleeping in the same bed lately - sometimes all three do

talks with my big girl before bed time

and Tiny looking pretty proud of herself when she saw herself on Sf Magazine for the first time!!

Francie and Maisie are doing ice skating with Jannie once a week at Winter Lodge - they are only slightly obsessed

checking out Jannie and Grampa's kitchen remodel - in progress!

I remember this look when we restored this old house growing up :) good to see those bare timbers again! can't wait for the new kitchen....

silly kids ready to swim 

and one day Dad was hunting, Mom whimped out on our walking to school and drove - it was cold.

they are crazy - and that's why we love them!

Tiny Turned 1

Just two quick iPhone pics of Tiny Turns 1 :) The picture below was my failed attempt at getting a phot the only night we had a 5, 4, 2 and 1 year old. Meltdowns during and after baths. That's real life for you! Happy 1st birthday to the baby in the house - we love you Tiny Tess!

Catching Up - some love for DAD!

Just catching up on the latest bird's eye view of life lately from my iPhone! Just some love for Dad - he's the bestest!

Last night before he goes - family picnic at school. He can man handle that stoller with four kids like it's on rails. 

4 girls. 1 bed. waiting for Dad to read a book. 

My big baby and Tiny baby - so lucky to be married to this guy right here (that's what JJ calls him)

On the way back from Oregon adventures with Dad - ice cream stop. More Oregon pics from Emmy coming!

Teeny home with mom, missing our buddies!

and BIG GIRL turns 6. Birthday crown at school with Mom and Dad.

Dad workouts - Heff still hikes the backyard to get uber-fit for his crazy hikes on hunts. He fills a pack with 100 pounds of rice, beans and water jugs (I can't even lift it) and hikes 75 sets of stairs from the house to the creek, doing pushups midway. HE IS NUTS. But it means he's home when he works out so I can get stuff done too - like get back to blogging :)  The girls join in sometimes....

Fiji Getaway - October 2013

Maisie and I escaped to Fiji for a weekend with friends - it was a looong trip out there and back but totally worth it for some sand and sun! Francie had to option to go but was more excited for her walk-a-thon :) and the littles were finally all big enough to stay with Dad too! So Maisie and I had some quality time together hanging out and recharging for a few short days. never long enough on island time!

we're here!

Maisie ran in to put on her bathing suit, cover up and camo hat #thatsmygirl

let's go have some fun

peace, love and fiji

ready to go exploring on the tender to the beach

Post swim/paddle/hike hot tub and treats :)

happy kid (happy mom)

hike to the top of a mini-mountain, inspired us to do some gymnastics of course

backbend - realized after I was in it it wasn't going to be easy to get out of it :)

paddle boarder Maisie

my little bug

ready for dinner

sweet girl snuggling mom

sunset - see you next time!

sea plane ride to the airport (Maisie fell asleep sitting before we even took off - and it was a BUMPY takeoff!!) and then the long flight home to my other stinkers!