Life Lately

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just catching up with day-to-day life in between the craziness of traveling - oh wait, it's all crazy! :) thanks to my iPhone and Instagram for capturing the everyday stuff...

how much does JJ look like my sister ABA

and speaking of ABA, check out her baptism gown Maisie found and put on. and IT FIT. Skinny mini Maisie

reading books in bed

we have been reading "Where the Sidewalk Ends" and found my FAVORITE poem - SICK. Girls thought it was hilarious

JJ the Hipster hanging out in my office

"look at the camera Tessie!"

taco Thursday for dinner this week - we put the girls to work chopping lettuce, tomatoes and avocado

rub a dub dub -showers instead of a tub

and fireplace s'mores for dessert after showers - ghetto cooking in the living room!

Heff and I snuck out on a datenight with our sidekick and got Thai in mountain view at a hole in the wall place - it was YUM

and in a record breaking TWO nights out in the same week we had a date with friends in Los Gatos at Manresa, one of our favorite indulgent restaurants! We special requested "the egg" - it's the most amazing thing I've ever had. Fun night and Tess behaved well after getting evil eyes for bringing her into a fancy place :)

Lemonade stand one afternoon. Ok it was like 50 degrees, a weekday afternoon and we didn't have lemonade so they sold Odwalla Orange Juice. Marissa came by with her older siblings and another friend was riding his bike and gave them $20 since he didn't have change!

sleeping baby in the swing - I finally got the "fancy" swing at work and it's a miracle. What was I thinking never getting it!!!

Emmy takes Tess and JJ in the morning and then walks down with the Bjorn

dog pile on Dad Sunday morning in coordinating tu-tus and pjs

Maisie loves to "help the workers"

and JJ loves to give hugs to Britny

little baby Tess after a blowout while we were out, just cut the onesie!

bath for JJ

happy baby

and our old house is on the market now, Tess and I were spying on the open house Sunday, hope we get good neighbors!

so life lately with these crazy four is CRAZY - but so awesome, especially all the moments in between

Welcome Scarlett James!

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I have a new niece - the first on my side of the family!! My brother James and his wife Emily had their first baby girl on Friday January 25 at 6:14am, 7 pounds 4 ounces at Stanford Hospital. She was one day past her due date and Emily had a super quick and easy labor - just 3 hours! (not jealous or anything ;) Scarlett is adorable and the girls can't wait to meet her. CONGRATS James and Em!!!

I got to hold her when she was 11 hours old - sooo sweet!

good job mom!

proud grandparents of their FIFTH baby girl granddaughter

it's a tie for who looks more beautiful in this photo - Emmy or Scarlett :)

little beauty

love the news feed from Instagram - my brother posting Scarlett going home this afternoon

breaking out of the joint

welcome home Scarlett James!

Duck Hunting Girls

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Heff took the big girls to Chico for a duck hunting expedition a couple weeks ago (finally uploading pictures from the little camera!) He drove up with Francie, Maisie and Janie to Red Bluff and left JJ sleeping at Oma's when he left with the girls at 5am to hit the duck blind. They were pretty excited to go and loved seeing the decoys, ducks and riding four wheelers - but it got pretty cold out there!

still dark out with one of the guys who took them out - they are crazy!

in the duck blind

love these faces on both of them

love the pink accents on my hard-core camo chicks

they got three big ones - don't worry they didn't miss, those "live ones" are decoys :)

they have a pretty good dad to take them out on his duck hunting trips (and I'll admit he's pretty lucky they put up with it! I went once when we were dating- it's COLD and EARLY in the morning)

they had a good dog out there to fetch the cold ducks, Francie would have gone after them but Heff told her there were Jellyfish in the pond (KIDDING! :)

It's COLD Dad!

Francie asked to ride with the guide - so he took her on a wild one :)

driving fast through the orchards with a pup on the grill. awesome.

Maisie cam (or JJ?) driving to the next stop that afternoon

JJ checking out the loot back at Oma's house

they went to Llano Seco Ranch to check out their cattle operation -

the girls found the feed barn

love this shot of Dad talking shop while the girls played in the corn feed

not a bad playground

Maisie just stopping to enjoy a stale rice cracker they feed the pigs

RELAXING at it's best

cold drizzly day in Chico (perfect for hunting those birds!)

them hogs. BIG hogs

bam bam

Tahoe Ski Trip!

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Last weekend we went up to Tahoe to take the girls skiing for the first time this season. Francie and Maisie leanred last year in Jackson Hole and then went a few more times in Shasta with Heff - but they got right back on their little edgy-wedgy skis and were off and running. JJ was complaining "where my skis?" and her big feet fit the smallest size boot so we rented her short little skis and sent her out too! She wasn't really strong enough to snow plow but Heff skiied with her between his legs and she went ballistic saying "I GOOOO SUPER FAST!!! AGAIN!!" over and over and over. They all managed the magic carpet and then graduated to the lifts for the second and third day. I even got a few runs in with them both days while Tess cooperated and napped in the room! Fun to get out to the snow but MAN is there a lot of gear :)

off with the big girls (rental car in parking lot, don't freak out at no car seats)

it's cold here (really not that cold - we were over dressed a little)

and they're off

for a few hours then time for hot chocolate inside by the fire

hilarious to see little J in her romper on skis

first time on the magic carpet - I stood behind her w Tess in the Bjorn (can't be allowed but no one really tells you you CAN'T do anything at Northstar!)

ok JJ here you go (nice pink goggles Heff)

Tiny and I on the sidelines having a beer waiting for the skiers to get hungry

family lift photo op

I was on the "Big Easy" lift w Maisie and Francie and we saw Dad and JJ ski by - the girls were frantically waving and yelling for them

sisters selfie

caught up to them

snuggles in the room

Palau Part II

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We arrived on the boat in our hot sweaty traveling clothes but quickly changed into shorts, tshirts, threw our shoes in the shoe basket and didn't see them again for the whole week! Palua was an awesome place to explore, find new animals, swim/paddle/surf, find coves and treasures and to just relax with lousy internet and lots of time with the girls. The were traveling troopers and did pretty well with the 17 hour time change! We were up early for a few sunsets but in bed early for another full day of fun.

Tessa and her buddy Zane - only a few weeks apart

First excursion to the beach - we found a little cove near the boat. JJ loves it and the crystal clear waters

family shot (Tessa was napping on the boat) we are a little pale to be in bathing suits still ;)

Francie trying windsurfing - she did pretty well!

Maisie just liked jumping off the board

Maisie and her buddy heading off in the sunset

Francie insisted I Stand-Up-Paddle board with her - it was a little challenging but we managed not to topple

big girls

ready to go tubing behind the tender - brave girls!

barking out "hold on to this side!" orders :)

love this shot of Maisie

our friend Alicia - the awesome boat school teacher! not afraid to jump in and swim with Maisie. Or paddle her little bum around in a kayak!

Tessa ready to hit the beach

JJ drying off with Max

the pirate ship!

Daddy and Francie

nighttime is my favorite time on the boat to hang out, have a sidecar (we taught the crew how to make good ones!) and play with the kids until they crash from swimming their little bums off all day. Tess and I dancing

one day we explored "Zero beach" most of the day and did some sports olympics on the beach -

Zero Beach cove

going for the sporty look - too bad I'm not sporty enough to pull it off!

snorklers and playing shark with JJ

sweet Maisie

Dad and JJ, sweet face J

we had to comemorate the first day of 2013!

Giant sea cucumber!

Dad and his girls - pretty happy in the water for hours

and another giant squishy cucumber that spits out sticky glue stringy stuff when you disturb it - crazy! The strings got on one of the kids' nets and never came off

sun going down

Dad and JJ playing in the sand

beach bum

and a good dad making sure he covers those privates :)

sunset family kayak but Francie just wanted to swim next to us the whole time!

showers back on the boat - storm clouds moved in most afternoons!

Max showing the girls the sea cucumber he found - this one didn't spit sticky goo

Big sis and bright eyes

On the boat to go see one of the COOLEST thing I have ever seen - Jellyfish lake! Francie warned us she didn't like jellyfish, but we didn't think she was serious

we took the tender to a hiking trail and hiked up and over a mini-mountain

to the "Mysterious Jellyfish Lake" where 8-40 MILLION Jellyfish live in a tiny lake that don't sting liek normal jellies

getting ready to jump in

Francie says "Mom I'm not going in I DO NOT like jellyfish"

Dad taking JJ and Maisie out

there weren't any jellies on the edge of the lake - you had to swim to the middle to find them

I swam Francie out until she started crying and whining "I don't like Jellyfish! I'm going back!" I took a minute to adjust my goggles and caught her trying to secretly swim back to the dock ;) we still didn't take her seriously - I mean once she SAW a jelly she would be into it right? WRONG

Heff said "put your mask on and give one look - if you don't like it I'll take you back." she saw the first jelly and shot up terrified "AHHHH A JELLYFISH!!!!!" Ok fine we believe you. Jellyfish-a-phobia buys you a ride bak to the dock

Maisie on the other hand was a snorkling machine and LOVED it

at first there were one or two to see - they were beautiful!

and then more...

under water selfie just for you Lindabobbi

and more...

shot from below



proud of my Maisie girl

back to Francie just chilling on the dock with Dad and JJ

she had no problem looking at a lone jelly near the dock but told us adamantly she is NEVER going to Jellyfish lake even next time we are in Palau - don't think that will be an issue France :)

blurry family photo - minus Tessa

and back to the white sand beaches


work it JJ

she is a Daddy-addict!

surfer girl

France found a coconut in the husk

took some work but she got it open

yummmmmmy

Maisie swooped in just in time to reap the rewards

windsurfer

play time on the floating dock

kids table

Dad messing with Tessa's 16 week pic

love this face

down time just hanging out

and back out in the sun

Tess getting a little equator vitamin D

and on one beach we found an awesome rope swing

fishing with Dad

nice look JJ

happy tiny

caught one!

kiss and release

Janie's turn

family shot at sunset

this kid is nuts - that's why we love you Janie

Francie reeled in this cool fish

water babies

fried up fish!

Styling Janie

we celebrated New Years Eve New Zealand time since that was the closest reasonable hour :)

with a Masquerade of course! Janie asked where Good Dog Carl was :)

cheers to 2013!

hot tub pina coladas were a staple after swimming

and worn out kids after all the fun in the sun

what a great trip!

New Years in Palau 2013 (part I)

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Palua 2013 was an awesome adventure! We left early in the morning on December 29 after being in Red Bluff to celebrate Claire and Cathleen's 65th birthday the night before and driving home from Red Bluff to unpack, re-pack, sleep an hour and get up for the flight! We stopped in Hawaii and then had another 9 hours to Palau - it was looong but the girls did pretty well (granted I wanted to tape them to their seats the last hour but overall they were good) and we stepped out into the little Palau International airport to the hot, muggy, sunshine - just what I was ready for after cold December weather at home!

pit stop in Hawaii

long enough for lei's and some sunshine

and after NINE more hours on the plane - we landed in Palau, Micronesia! Talk about a great fist stamp on your passport Tess (only JJ can compete with a cooler baby passport :)

the awesome big kids we traveled with the whole time - Nalani and Max with the girls ready for adventure

Francie was sooo excited to follow Nalani around from the moment we met in Hawaii

next - a bus ride to a dive boat dock where we crossed paths for 6 minutes with our friends who had been there all week and were en route home - nothing like saying hi to neighbors while you are in a dive bar in Palau! They are all tan - we are all pale, gotta change that!

and a ride on a tender to the boat

... to be continued, all these photos require a few stages of posting!

Playroom Makeover!

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Last week Heff took Francie and Maisie on a duck hunting adventure overnight (JJ went to hang out with Oma too) so I figured it was the perfect (only!) time to finally paint the playroom and fix up the girls room like I'd been wanting to do since we moved in. I set Tess up in her bouncy chair to watch me and got to work with some chalkboard paint in the little closet off the playroom...

These were the before shots

I ran out of steam and paint about 2am and called it quits, but not before I emailed a couple of my awesome girls at work and Emmy to surprise them with a "project day" for 9am the next morning!

Wednesday morning we finished the raspberry pink wall and got a little ambitious with the hall closet too (that is empty since it is framed out for a circular staircase to lead to the unfinished third floor someday. I wanted to make it a reading nook so we painted the white walls grey and grabbed some Ribba white frame ledges from Ikea, my favorite staple for book nooks :)

After the pink was dry enough I attempted the stencil. I had seen a cute stenciled room on "Finding My Feet" - a cute blog I read about a mom in Nashville who is always up to some project - and ordered this tribal/chevron stencil a while ago.

We picked a few colors to match the Land of Nod rug I love in the playroom...

and practiced the stencil on cardboard until we liked the color scheme. Kelsey through the fan getting the paint to dry on the cardboard sample (can you tell we were having too much fun with a fisheye lens?)

ready to roll

We quickly realized a stripe across the room was going to be way better than the entire wall (TG) and it was fairly easy to do little by little. First try - let's see if it worked...

moved all the way across the room - done! and chalkboard room stars all done on the ceiling

Sara, my awesome graphics girl at work, painted on these cute moon and stars on the ceiling and we were contemplating what to do on the big wall you see from the playroom.

The first thought was a banner with our name and the girls names coming off it it like ribbons, but then decided frames with their names under it gave them a cool space to draw portraits (will definitely come back to bite us when they realize they can draw unflattering pictures of their parents I guess :)

Chalkboard closet - ready for drawing on the walls (I guess I have to let them now? ;)

Playroom filled up with toys and dolls! LOTS of dolls.

Girls room was closer to being done. I liked the blue paint that was already on the walls and the beds were in - we just added a few things to make it feel finished

fisheye view

I wanted to do some sort of "art" on the wall and let the girls help make it. (I wasn't a nice enough mom to give up control on the stencil to let them help :) We took a big 3×4 canvas that was 1.5 inches thick and drew a deer on it inspired by the Land of Nod bedding. The girls went to town with different colors and then Cousin Kate and I did a little top cover. When it was dry I exacto-knifed slits in the back and stuck white lights through the holes in the deer outline. Plug in, hang up and now it's homemade art/a night light! I love the way it lights the room.

"The orphanage" as my sister calls it for the three big girls

Ribbon pillow from LofN and Francie face from olliegraphics

bookcase and cute little deer clock, owl light and the little girl wooden pic Jannie and Kaky had in their room as little girls

I added a few fresh toys to keep it exciting :) love these color stained blocks from Land of Nod too!

BlaBla and raccoon collection

bookcase for MORE dollies

and our latest favorite toy - the Tegu blocks

and the Book nook closet! all finished. This room was pretty easy but so much fun in the end! I keep walking by to open the door and peek in :) and the girls love the coziness of it.

I was inspired by this quote Sara found but my sister got wind of "words on the wall" when My mom was looking for a good quote for us and she called me to veto it.

I was also inspired to do a gallery wall like this but in the end I liked the clean look of the ABC's - and it was a little easier!

some of our favorite books ready for reading

I wanted to do something on the ceiling but at 1am when stripes weren't working we went for a "modern art" abstract and at the last minute painted one area yellow - can't you tell it's like a stained glass of the sky with the sun peeking through??;)

wide angle book nook

that's a wrap! girls love it. Now go make your beds :)

Christmas in Red Bluff 2012

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As per usual - Christmas in Red Bluff was craziness! 15 cousins, 12 girls/3 boys, 13 of them 5 years old and under! We all stay under the same roof at Oma's house and it's just all kids all the time. And lots of really good food, lots of cocktails and beers and lots of fun. We also had a big birthday bash for Oma and Nana's 65th bday at Kat & Donald's new house on the 28th. We are so lucky to have such a big, crazy family - especially to celebrate holidays like these!

4 babies in 4 months

off on a river walk

Maureen's latest sidekick - baby Molly

Heff and JJ ready to explore

cousins looking for flat rocks

Izza and Francie on the island

big girls

JJ throwing rocks then wiping her dirty hands on Dad

Brian and a bunch of babies

overkill on my 1960's polaroid filter?! :)

Kat, Me and Maureen with our baby girls - more filter overkill.

not much love for the group photo request

big girls smile for me

heading back to the caravan of cars

carrying big rocks - Francie and I had a little life lesson work on the walk back. She claimed the rock was too heavy and kept cermoniuosly and dramatically dropping it. I told her "we do hard things" (thanks LIFE blog) and we talked about this each of the 23 times she dropped it. It was a long walk.

Tehama county is pretty even in it's dry, barren state

Family photo (thanks Andrea)

pick up tailgate cheese sticks

and another dinner feeding 30+

new additions get plates this year

crazy kids

love that stare down OD!

15 cousins

cute babies! all look like their dads

big sisters and little sisters

dinner at Kat & Donald's cute house for the twin's 65th birthday bash

We left the other 11 kids at Oma and Opa's with 3 babysitters and 4 extra large pizzas :) the babies were along for the ride

count um. 9 months oldest to 4 months youngest

Sidecars and a whole lotta binkies

great toasts to the birthday girls

a few pies

and after cake and Happy Birthday - Heff and I were off on a running start to grab the kids, pack up, drive 4 hours home, un-pack, re-pack and get on a 7am flight for our next adventure!!

Dinner Dates

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We've been trying to have a family over for dinner every Thursday night to be more social - it was our New Year's Resolution :) we don't get to see our friends often enough! The girls are loving having kids over to play and the parents get to sit back, BBQ and drink some wine :)

 

Tess bundled to BBQ outside with mom and dad

New toys from Christmas to keep the kids occupied - and I love color

Christmas Morning 2012

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I feel like I could just post that picture above and call it a day. Francie holding the baby like a good big sis, Maisie poking her in the mouth (why do they love to do that?) and Janie - Janie is just SO NUTS! This face sums her up - from the moment she wakes up to when she crashes in her crib - she's crazy. and I love it! Christmas morning everybody woke up around 8:30 and waited for Mom and Tess - they sat at the top of the stairs (I decided this has to be a yearly tradition, we'll see if they get too fast next year) and then ran down to find Santa had eaten the cookies, drank the milk (last year it was beer - way better idea) and left presents!


walking down the stairs 0 being careful, making Grampa proud

almsot there...

the loot!

camp chairs - guess who did the shopping?

France was super excited about her make-a-quilt #itsinthegenes

Maisie got the remote control flying UFO she really wanted but was more excited for Tess to get a playmat

and JJ got a baby doll in a tutu but she was off and running for the camo head warmer thing (does it even have a name?)

letter from santa left out!

not complaining since Heff made his list and checked off most of the Christmas shopping - even if the "shrill whistle" has been driving me insane multiple times a day

ruffle butt sleepers

there's the tutu doll dancing on the playmat

and our awesome, super sweet housekeeper Gladys gave the girls each a really thoughtful gift. When I went through what we had for each girl with Heff I was worried "but we don;t have that 'really-big-box-full-of-plastic-awesomeness' they really want. Gladys checked this box perfectly :)

my favorite contribution this year was Tegu wooden magnetic blocks, you can't really EVER beat Magna-tiles (which we got more of thanks to Oma - they are always fighting for more squares!) but these Tegu blocks are super cool too

Maisie changed mid-morning. into a summer dress. it's cool.

"pick-cha fwames"

It's like Lincoln Logs married Magnatiles

We had an awesome rest of the day hanging out (in my new slippers, thanks Heff!) playing with toys, cleaning up wrapping paper and going through a big stack of new Christmas cards

want a ride?

snuggling with Tiny looking at the tree with the heat on high and christmas music playing. the best!

Then ABA, Pat, Jannie, Grampa, Big Uncle Jerry and Little Uncle Jerry came over to our house for a mellow Christmas dinner - Prime rib on the BBQ! I think I was all pictured out but here are a couple when they got there

love the gift wrap job Jannie/ABA!

Christmas Eve 2012

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December 24 we always do at Jannie and Grampa's house with all of my mom's family - and there is always way too much fun and craziness to pack into one night. The Kreefts always swear they will make midnight mass and 12pm rolls around and we've still got presents to open, contests to win and swaps to be had. This year was no different!

Jannie's pretty tree

Emmy and Tiny

As my sister texted me "You managed to ruin Christmas and save Christmas all within the same hour." Since crab was hard to get this year with weather or something we told my Dad we'd order it through our Bumble vendor who does our Ciopinno night seafood. We set it all up for delivery at Bumble even though we were closed and when it wasn't there as promised by noon Heff called the vendor. The lady who finally answered in accounting kind of listened to the problem and promptly hung up and never answered the phone again. None of the 38 times Heff called them!

We were hoping and praying they would manage to deliver since they are always late anyway and just kept checking Bumble over and over until 4pm when we realized this was a PROBLEM. Jannie was freaking out - no live cracked crab on christmas eve? not possible. My dad scrambled to get some cooked crabs (which Jannie barely let in the house) and I called around EVERYWHERE looking for 11th hour live crabs, most people laughed at me. Found them at some place in Half Moon Bay right off a boat at 4:20pm. Posted a task on TaskRabbit at 4:21pm, task was claimed at 4:24pm by some awesome dude already driving on 280 (taskrabbiting while driving MUST be doubly illegal, but whatever) and we had 12 live crabs delivered to Menlo Oaks by 5:45pm just in time to throw in the pot. Christmas saved by my iPhone and Kris W. He got a tip.

Andy and John at their usual positions by 6:30pm Dec 24th every year. Francie and I both tried all the crab butters this year (if you don't know, you don't want to)

the biggest kid of the family - Aunt Mimi couldn't wait to give Francie some new PlayMobile! (Drew's friend claims to have gone over to their house once not that long ago and found Mimi playing with his Playmobile zoo, lining up the animals :) Come play here Aunt Mimi!!!

Ann and Pat decked out for the Mr and Mrs Christmas contest - fourth annual

Aunt Kim's artichoke dip and the vultures swoop in

pretty "big kids" table Jannie set

Mimi couldn't resist - building toys with the girls

Daddy and Angry Tess (probably mad because I put a onesie with sleeves under her sleeveless dress #magicunderwear)

Gotta love the JJ signature "Lady pose" and cheeeeeeese.

the blond bombshells ready for the contest!

Mr Jerry Christmas - double winner and his biggest competition this year - Drewby

Duke it out guys

the ever-non-partisan judges

Francie was ABA's BFF all week and STOLE Pat's place in the show (he was really upset having to bow out of singing a duet with his wife ;)

Mr Jerry Christmas leading us off - and last years winner Darth Xmas not so happy in the background :)

Em's very creative entry - the 36 week pregnant sparkly ornament

Em-azing as usual!

but these guys stole the show singing "Baby, It's Cold Outside"

SO cute (once we all got over Drew singing a love song to his sister and cousin ;)

Pat couldn't wear the pants without talking the talk - backwards slide into the room for some awesome 70's dance moves

love it Pat

and my personal favorite - Francie and ABA singing "Oh There's No Place Like Home for the Holidays"

winners in my book!

Jannie helping coax the little girls down for a Twinkle Twinkle

JJ was not so happy Sophie kept interrupting her

Sister sing "We Wish you a Merry Christmas"

Luke doing his best to keep these three in line

Sweet Maisie

The girls couldn't hold back and gave Emmy her Instagram collage we made her - titled "Mornings with Emmy!" :)

and after a big dinner and the kids clearing the table (well that is what is supposed to happen - did they?! not sure) SANTA was heard on the rooftop and the kids ran upstairs to hide! It's so weird to be an adult now and not go up there - I'm like "see you guys!" and then I remember I have four kids and have to "help Santa" now. Francie and Maisie got a Playmobile castle (wrapped), JJ got her one and only wish - a TuTu, and Tess got a music mobile

I made them wait even longer (but not as long as that year when I was 11 and Santa had to run to 7-11 to get batteries while we waited impatiently upstairs!) so I could snap a picture.

THIS happiness is what I remember as the best few minutes of being a kid growing up (and there were a lot of great moments thanks to Grampa and Jannie making just about everything fun but nothing beats the anticipation of Christmas Eve) Francie's feet are actually off the ground!

here they come running down the stairs - like a heard of screaming elephants

Most satisfied customer goes to...

"Backawa! I got a TUTU!" (just noticed their perfectly opposite coordinating outfits)

then on to the swap and I think I put my camera down :) we had another few hours of swaps (themes this year were "warm" for adults and "neon" for kids. We took home a Katniss action figure - the warm submission by James since she's on fire, Francie called it a "Bow-and-arrow" girl and a cozy blanket and some neon goodness) and JJ took the time to fill this box with her attempts at circles - that was dedication JJ

Getting ready for Christmas

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The stocking were hung by the chimney with care... and Jannie has a lot of work to catch up on needlepointing stockings! haha - kidding JanKnit :) We got the house decorated and Christmas playlist plugged in the ipod to get us all in the spirit, just a few random photos of Christmas at our house - the first year in a new house and as a family of six :)

First tree in the new house

colored lights on the fence (Heff's favorite :) and Santa hand-me-down from Jannie on the porch

Horse and carriage drop off!

and the New Baby tree Jannie made for Tessa - all her own sweet ornaments in red and silver. love it Jannie!

and my FAVORITE part of December - all the pretty holiday cards we get from friends. There are some pretty creative ones this year! I ran out of room but maybe should have rethought where to hang them since I've covered the windows and I never take them down until February

and the Thursday before Christmas the girls were already out of preschool and Emmy was sick - I had a million things to cross of my list before the ball started rolling down the holiday hill the next day so the girls all piled on my at Bumble while I worked on my laptop. It's not like we have a PLAYROOM there or anything :)

Mariani Christmas Tea

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One of my favorite days of the year! We hosted at our house this year with all of the Mariani clan (just missing Tracy!) including Arlene and Dea. 12 of them and 4 of us makes for a big group of crazy kids. It is such a treat to spend time with the Mariani girls - they are all so cute and such good friends, I hope my clan of girls grow up to be just like them :) A great way to kick off the holiday frenzy!

the matriarchs

Molly always finds the babies! I met Molly when I was a dorky 8th grader and she was a COOL junior in High School and we worked at Ronald McDonald House together, can't believe how long ago that is/was!

Nico (her baby) not so sure about this

good thing Jannie got the girls their own train - always the hit of the party!

crazy kids (my godson James keeping tabs on cranky J)

Mary the Moose - oops not the best spot for a group photo haha

Mom photoshoot while the kids run roughshot - couldn't find lighting any of us liked ;)

Erick came to pick up the troops and get some Tess lovin in

I love all these sweet kids!

wait... I said sweet :)

Nutcracker: Guiding Light

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We were SO proud of Francie for her leading role in the preschool performance of the nutcracker! She was the Guiding Light of the Angels and took her role very seriously. They had a teacher as the roll in the past since the Guiding Light motions for all of the angels to do their parts - but since Francie is a full head taller than anyone else in the school she was the perfect choice :) Oma drove down just to see the play and Jannie and Grampa came too. It was a fun night and our first of hopefully many school performances - my favorite!

Dad helping Francie get in her costume which included a battery pack for her headband LED lights - high tech preschool costumes :) Heff is getting good at these fixing-hair type Dad duties!

very supportive Grandparents ready to watch the stage star

waiting to go backstage with her buddies Chase and Lizzy

her BFF Lizzy - her right hand angel too :)

The play was only 4/5 year olds in Preschool and Transitional K so Maisie in the 3's group and William in K were on the sidelines happy to watch their siblings

enthralled crowd ;)

and it starts

watching from the sidelines with PJed JJ and Tess

here come the angels!

can you see Francie

great show France :)