purple ribbon

Right before Thanksgiving, I signed the kids up for gymnastics.  Their classes are at the same time, I stick with Kaitlyn in her class to keep her from falling off something dangerous and Ry's class is across the gym doing fun stuff like swinging from the rings, climbing on the parallel bars and bouncing on trampolines.  Sounds fun, right?
Well, in true Ryan fashion, he was slow to warm up to it.  The first 4 classes or so were filled with tears.  In fact, the second class he opted to sit in the waiting area and watch everyone from behind the glass instead of participate.  For the entire 45 minutes he sat in his chair!  Stubborn kid.  But, wanting to teach him that quitting is not really an option, we persevered and continued to endure the whining and crying, knowing that eventually he may actually crack a smile.  He also learned that he has the chance to earn ribbons for performing certain skills for the first time.  This was what kept us going.  Talking about the ribbons.
Over the weeks Ryan was getting more comfortable, but today was glorious.  He ran right off to join his group without a whimper or a tear in his eye, and actually looked like he was having fun the entire time!  AND he earned the purple ribbon….for doing a forward somersault without help.  A somersault is something Ryan has been able to do for awhile, but he finally did it in class today without being scared or crying or needing encouragement.  And it was exactly the lesson I wanted him to experience, how good it feels to get what you work hard for!
Who knows how much longer we'll continue with gymnastics (for Kaitlyn's sake hopefully a little longer, the girl loves it!), but after today's performance I don't really care.  Ryan can call the shots now.
I am proud of you buddy.

way to go big guy!

naps

Ryan has never been the type of kid to fall asleep anywhere but his bed, no stroller naps for him ever.  And he has also been the kid fighting nap time HARD lately and doing well with quiet time, but it makes for a cranky evening and early bed time (which isn't too bad in my mind either).  Today was no different, he wanted nothing to do with a nap and only wanted to play in his room for quiet time.  So I set the timer like always but had it downstairs with me, and when it went off I noticed it had been eerily quiet in his room for awhile.  I walked in, couldn't find him anywhere but heard him breathing.  Sleeping breathing.  Looked under the bed, no Ryan.  And then looked in his toy box, that had the lid down and everything, like nothing was amiss.  And found this….

Sound asleep with his toys.  I guess the theme at gymnastics today, Toy Box, really hit home for him.  That and the 2 mile bike ride around the neighborhood and playing at the sand box with the neighborhood kids in the warm January sun.  Wears a kid out I tell ya.  And when I woke him up, he smiled at me and said "I was tired".

a couple of monkeys

We took advantage of the beautiful weather, left all the boxes and packing behind for a few hours, and trekked into San Francisco today to visit the zoo.  The kids had never been, and Eddy and I hadn't been in such a long time that we didn't remember anything about it.  It was fun, much bigger than the Oakland zoo, and way crowded because of the holiday today.  But we enjoyed it.  Ryan's favorite was the playful sea lion and the penguins, Kaitlyn loved the giraffes and any monkey she laid eyes on, and my favorites were the grizzly bears who were actually fishing in the lake in their exhibit.  So cool!  And next time we may skip a few of the exhibits and spend some time at what looked like the coolest playground around.   Just didn't have time for it all today.

Ryan has created a funny saying in our house…you hold up your index finger to your mouth and say "You see this?  Shhhhh".  We think it's hilarious.  Even Kaitlyn gets in on the "shhhhhh" action.  Well, we got to the zoo and saw these signs everywhere…just had to attempt a photo of these 2 in action.

And these are about the only photos I took today.  Guess we were too busy enjoying the real animals to get any pics of them.

one eight

In just a few short days, Kaitlyn hits the 18 month milestone.  And she every bit an 18 month old.  A complete tornado if you will.  Her attention span is that of a flea, hopping from one thing to the next before you really knew what bit ya.  She really does not enjoy being tied down at all.  She wants to run, jump, climb, and slide.  And then repeat it, 26 more times.  When it comes to dancing, this girl has got the moves, and she just can't contain it when she hears any bit of music.  It's rather cute.  And her love of animals has only gotten stronger with time…she will squeal with delight at the sight of anything furry (including cows mind you).  It's a good thing we don't have any pets at the moment, as I'm not quite sure what she would do.  Love it to death I assume. 

Climbing.  This happens about 60 thousand times per day.  Exhausting. 

she so desperately wants to sit in a big chair like the rest of us!

Her language seems to be taking off faster than I can keep track of, which we all love.  She is more of a parrot than I ever remember Ryan being, in that she will repeat most words you say, perfectly.  I was making dinner one night and said "and these are Potstickers" and she says "Paw-sticker".  She is speaking in short sentences at times, like "I see you" and "I got it" are her two favorites.  The girl is constantly chattering, for which we probably understand about 75% of it.  And if we don't quite understand her, but finally get around to guessing correctly, she gives us an emphatic nod of the head and yells "Yeaaaaa!", which makes me giggle every single time.  She is beginning to confuse her "yes" and "no", and of course, like any 18 month old she gets frustrated when we don't understand or when she doesn't get her way.  She is learning to perfect the art of the tantrum -- dramatically fall to the floor screaming, pounding her hands and legs.  And of course, like any mom with the 2nd child, I have learned more quickly this time to ignore her and walk away and that usually fixes it.  

Daddy was there to catch her, promise

her new favorite seat in the house, the bottom shelf of the fridge.  nice.  Of course Ryan loves to jump in and join her

for as intolerant as Ryan has always been to things touching his head, Kaitlyn has no problem with hats.  I'm sensing a budding fashionista here.  

the kids selfie

She can point to almost all of her body parts, knows all of us by name at this point but her favorite names to say are "Ry Ry" and "Nonno" or "Dzia Dzia".  Clearly the men in her life rule her.  And yes, she is Daddy's little girl.  The two of them look alike, and she loves the attention she gets from her Daddy.  They even love watching football together, and she'll walk around yelling "touchdown" with her arms up over her head.  

finally enough hair for pigtails

We love everything about you Miss KayGray.  

Your curiosity and spice for life are amazing, and for as tired as you can make us at the end of the day, I love that you are the way you are!  

new year, new beginnings

So this is really happening…

I had in my mind this idea that we'd take a great family photo in front of our NEW HOUSE!  The kids were beyond done, and not cooperating.  But thought these were funny shots, just more proof of how exhausting these two can be.  And yes, after a year of looking, we finally found a house in Benicia!  We got the keys the day before the new year.  So cheers to 2014….a year of new beginnings and lots of new adventures!
Now who wants to come help us pack up and move?

New Year's Eve

This year was the first in awhile that we had a party to go to for New Year's Eve! Our friends the Westcoats hosted a marvelous, casual, family friendly dinner party.  It was perfect.  We ate tacos, the kids had run of the house and I think they found every single toy in that house to play with, we laughed and just enjoyed our friendships.  Thanks Megs and Brian for such a fun evening!  Oh, and the best part, we were all home in bed by 11 pm.  

Happy New Year!

Kaitlyn putting on the pearls

kids table

Macy and Hadley jumping for joy at the promise of ice cream

"what you looking' at James?"

there were costume changes galore.  perhaps little red riding Hadley?  

Kaitlyn couldn't stay away from a chair with the big girls

our attempt at getting a shot of all the kids.  We failed, miserably.  4 out of 6 ain't bad though, right?
Ryan, Macy, Hadley, and Zoe.  Kaitlyn and Ella are off exploring more toys no doubt. 

Megs and her super creative table decor 

the not-so-white Christmas

not really sure why the tree looks like it's the leaning tower of Pisa in this photo, it was straight I swear!

We spent the week of Christmas in Tahoe with my family.  I LOVE Tahoe.  You all know this by now.  However, this year left a little to be desired, by the way of the amount of the white stuff.  As in, there wasn't much of it.  But when I put on my Polly Positive hat for a second, it actually was a great amount of snow for the kiddos.  Enough for sledding, rolling in, eating, throwing a snow ball or two, yet not too much that it made it super hard to walk through with short little legs, and it definitely wasn't too cold that made playing in it miserable.  So all in all, a great week to be there with youngsters.  

Us grown up children managed a day away for some skiing, only to cut the day off after about 2 1/2 hours due to boredom from skiing the same 2 (the only 2) runs the entire time.  No other runs were open.  Ah well, we took some good walks, explored the wintery beauty of the area, and did plenty of sledding.  And the other time was spent building lots and lots of Legos.  

playing on the top bunks

this is how the boys (including Uncle Derek) spent a lot of their time

Kaitlyn helping Nanny decorate the tree

reading The Night Before Christmas with Dzia Dzia

checking out the loot on Christmas morning

 And here is a lesson in how to break your hip….Nanny and Dzia Dzia both felt the need to attempt skating on the frost on the deck in their slippers.  Couldn't resist adding these pics in to prove how truly young they both still are.

open, open, open!

We took a family walk down to the lake on Christmas Day.  A gorgeous day to be outside. 

and we happened upon this huge snowman.  Someone spent some time on that thing!

they even had Kaitlyn sized snowmen in addition to the big daddy

the kids got to watch a movie so the adults could enjoy relaxing after Christmas dinner…this kept Kaitlyn entertained for roughly 2 minutes, but it was worth a shot

we put the 3 older kids in ski lessons at Tahoe Donner one morning.  Ryan (in the middle) and Connor (on the right) were in the same class…Connor loved it, Ryan did not.  A frustrating parent moment, as we knew he would love skiing, he just didn't love being in a class without us.  

and Elena did great!

So once Ryan had exhausted himself from crying throughout the lesson, and decided he had had enough, we called it a day and went to the Village at Squaw Valley to people watch and have lunch.

the benefit to rising early due to excitable small children….gorgeous sunrises from the deck

 And on our last day in the mountains, we all took a long walk along the nature trail near South Lake Tahoe.  A favorite walk in the summer, it was almost more magical in the winter.  We saw a bald eagle, red salmon swimming underneath the ice, and we saw hints of a beaver in the area…but only Dzia Dzia managed to get a peak at the real beaver in action.  The rest of us were jealous.

checking out the beaver dam

the Seattle Kuzaks

Ryan would rather do anything than be in a photograph at this point, hard to get a good one of him these days!

A wonderful week in a wonderful place!  

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday as well!