California Summer 2014

After receiving our second invitation to an August wedding in San Francisco, I had a hair-brained idea that the kids and I would go home to California for a month.  From there, God provided in every way, enabling us to have the most spectacular summer with our entire families and so many of our cherished friends.  It's going to take me some time to form coherent sentences that do our trip justice.  For now, I will share the photos and add the stories a little later...

Hellacious travel day #1.  I was fearful that Dad might disown me somewhere over Denver, but, by the Grace of God, he still let me and my entourage stay at the house for the month! 

My buddy and me.

They both fought hard.  

Emmy got the boot from my row after harassing Sissy.  We were so very blessed to have the one and only extra seat on the plane next to Mom, Dad and Juju.

  

Cousins reunited!!! Emmy's very happiest smiles happen when she's with Claire and Andy. :)

Meeting Uncle Grant for the first time ever!!!!

He's a natural. :)

Sissy leans into Grammy after church.

We had an impromptu swim and lunch party at Grammy and Poppy's house after church!

Meeting Auntie Eliana!

Getting glam in our "new" dress up finds from the thrift store!

Jakie Ry wanted in. :-)

Sis and Andy making me over.

Our girls!

These two have a love-hate relationship.  

Some bouncing around here...Dress up!

Papa teaching Emmy how to blow bubbles with bubble gum.

Still working on it.

Oh, Sis.  She totally takes advantage of Mimi and insists she be fed via the "over the mountain through the tunnel" game.

Swimming and picnic lunch at Grammy and Poppy's.

Visiting with Auntie Kerry!!

Kris is a saint. :)

Reunited with my sweet Hils at Lisa and John's wedding!!

Pap and Juju at Chris' house for the Odell family gathering!

Clare, Uncle Kent, Auntie Kerry and Jamesie Boy :)

Juj making her rounds!

Man, I love this picture. :)

Testing out the new tree swing...it was a HIT!

Sis and her beloved Umple JP.

The tables turn!  Pushing Mick!

Auntie Kristi and Jamesie boy :)

Sis didn't want to leave...

The Oakland Zoo with my cousins!

I unloaded my boy on my Kris. ;)

Checking out the monkey!

Sweet Shannon and Jakie Wy Wy.

One of my very favorite parts of his mobility is that he looks for me whenever I'm not near.  He's clearly a Mama's Boy already, in the best way possible. ;)

Park playdate celebrating Drew Landgrafs 3rd birthday!

Performing "Let it Go" for Grandpa Jack.  Sis has taken it to the next level with costumes and props!

Bedtime story with Mimi.  Littlest book ever.

Feeding the ducks at Blackhawk Plaza!

Chowing down at the Landgrafs!

Learning about gardening from Mimi!

These two are starting to show their preferences for toys.  Julia was obsessed with a tiny stuffed owl we affectionately named DeeTee (a sound Julia makes all the time) and a Ken doll head (not pictured.)  James carried a block or a wooden hammer.  Whomever said boys and girls are the same obviously never had kids.

Uncle Grant is the coolest.

Pretty sure all my kids think Auntie Kristi hung the moon.

Waiting for sun screen to dry with Grammy!

Poppy gets a gold star for managing all the kids in the pool!

Uncle Grant devoted his afternoon to catching a tireless Sis as she jumped into the pool.

Auntie Eliana, Uncle Ben and Hailey join the party!!!

We met sweet Hailey for the first time ever!!!!  We love her so much!!

Sleepy, sleepy boy.

Julia adores her Auntie Eliana.  We all do. :)

Sissy raids the dress up box at Auntie Kristi's house!

A whole lotta love up in here!

Sitting next to (on?) Poppy and Daddy's pavers at the All War Memorial at Oak Hill Park.

Feeding ducks at Oak Hill Park (despite the obnoxiously large sign telling us not to.)

Uncle Ben came to visit from work!!

Auntie Eliana!!

Hailey tries watermelon for the first time!! So grateful to be able to be around for momentous milestones such as this one! :)

Sissy with her garden.  Papa brought his fastest-growing seeds home from the store for Hannah to plant with Mimi.  Too bad Hannah also like to play in the dirt and unearthed her seeds a few days later. :-/

A special treat for lunch!

Sharpening his choppers.

4/4 babies sound asleep in the car!

Rapunzel hair.

Early morning play-dough sesh.

Emmy loved the butterfly she had painted on her face at Uncle Ben and Auntie Eliana's block party!

Dinner with Grandpa Jack!

Mimi and her little shopping apprentices.  $10 shopping spree at Papa's store!

These two clung to the chew toys that Emmy picked out for them.  Turns out, they are in high demand by the four-legged furry customers at Papa's store!

Emmy not only loves the Crayola molding clay, silly putty, cheez-its and flower seeds but also the bag and receipts.  She treasures it all.

Look who we ran into!!

Picnic lunch at Inspiration Point in the Berkeley Hills!  We set these two up in the back of the suburban...They were like a couple of zoo animals.

Steam Trains at Tilden Park!!!

Kris and juj!

You'd think that this would be a highlight of Hannah's whole California adventure because of her love of trains.  Instead, she was terrified and hasn't stopped talking about her extreme distaste for tunnels.  

I love this picture. :)

Just doing what we do most of the time...Playing on the floor.

Sissy preforming "Let It Go" for my cousins, Betsy and Grace and my Auntie Jackie!

Auntie Jackie, Betsy and Mom!

We crashed Mom's classroom work day when we needed to get out of the house...Hannah was in HOG HEAVEN with Mom's stuffed animal basket.

Hannah put a Baboo in every chair.

Someone's going exploring.

Julia playing with the doll house Emmy created for DeeTee the tiny owl during quiet time.

How Hannah wakes people up.  Consider yourself warned.

Playing roadtrip!  Emmy's brainchild, of course.

I can't help but laugh every time I look at this picture...They crack me up!

First stop after picking Daddy up at the airport...In N Out!!!

Dinner at the Landgrafs!  Emmy is exposed to super hero play!  A nice reprieve from princesses, for sure. :-P

My Nick meeting our dear niece, Hailey, for the first time!!  Ben, Eliana and Hailey came over for breakfast...Making the best of our early mornings!

Pool party at Grammy and Poppy's Anniversary celebration!

Playdate with Hailey!!

Sleepover!!

Disney movie marathon!

Sis would not rest.  It was funny for awhile and then she was voted out and spent the rest of the night in her "Princess bed" (aka Pack N Play.)

Beach day!! Picnic at Venice Beach in Half Moon Bay!  The last beach trip we'll ever make with crawlers! haha!

Emmy photobombing the picture. :-P

Making use of the timer.

I realized that Sis has a gleeful smile on her face in every picture I have of her at the beach. :)

Eating sand by the fist-fulls.

Sea otter sighting!

Sis in her element. :)

Hannah calling everyone's phones from Grammy's house line...

...Offering kisses for sale. :-P

Cuddling up to Grammy on the porch swing. :)

My boys!!

So many hungry ducks!

Fairyland in Oakland with Grammy and Poppy!

"The young woman who lived in a shoe with so many children she didn't know what to do..."

Lunch at the legendary Fenton's Ice Creamery!  I doubt Poppy has ever had a more high-maintenance lunch companion.

Dinner out to celebrate the anniversary of Mom's 29th birthday!

Mom and her people!

These two were in for the night of their lives!  They went to see an outdoor showing of FROZEN with Uncle Ben, Grammy and Poppy!!

Horn Family portrait!! Only one of Sis not picking her nose!

Grammy and Poppy and their grandbabies!

It wouldn't be a family portrait without Sis pitching a fit.

Perfection!

So beautiful...both of them. :)

Grammy out did herself and found matching tutus for all the girls!

How blessed are we to have all of our cousins in the same frame?!?

Brunch at Hap Magee Park with the Sacksteders, Grandma and Grandpa Sacksteder and all of the Horns, and Mimi, or course.  Amazing! I can think of no better way to start the day!

Taking it all in.  The brunch food and the ambiance.

Jamesie and Grandpa Sacksteder. :)

Beautiful Clairey!

Big night out to celebrate Arge and Pei-Ling!!

First night out just the four of us in a long, long, long time.  Like, I can't remember the last time?

Hailey, so kindly, sharing her beautiful headband with Juju.  Sharing clothes already!

Our first Odell-Horn-Sacksteder photo in years!! It seems as though it takes an act of God to get us all in the same place at the same time.

Grandpa Jack has full arms!

The Sacksteders!!  SO GRATEFUL that Grandma and Grandpa Sack's trip coincided with ours!!!

Celebrating the babies' first birthday!

Whatever is on Daddy's plate is ALWAYS more appealing than what is on Emmy and Hannah's plates.

After such a long summer apart, everyone wants to be in Daddy's breathing space.  Me included.

Juju strikes back!! She's going to be a tough little cookie after putting up with Jamesy's shenanigans!

Jamba Juice and park date!  So simple and so much fun, mostly because we were all together as a family of 6.

ANYTHING to be near Uncle Jamie.  To include disguising themselves as blankets.

Hellacious Travel Day #2

July Random Photos

The girls were getting in eachother's hair one day and in an effort to distract them, I found myself blurting out that we should have a tea party.  I told them that I'd make the tea and snacks and they needed to decorate and get themselves ready for a proper tea party...It ended up being a lot of fun. :)

We found an AWESOME channel on youtube (CuteGirlsHairstyles) that shows you how to recreate the Disney princess' hairstyles. We had a bunch of fun trying them out!  Here, Hannah was Elsa and Emmy was Merida from Brave.  They spent a bunch of time building this princess castle together.

Mimi and Papa came to visit!

Haircut!

I have been growing my hair since I had a moment of lunacy at 8 weeks pregnant with Hannah and got a bob.  I now know that I look like a mushroom with a bob haircut.  It was not really by choice that I let it grow so long, but rather because, if the stars align and I am childless for two hours, the very last thing I feel like doing is going to a hair salon.  I'm an introvert, small talk wears me out.  A few months ago I decided that I might as well do something productive with my crazy mop and donate it to children who suffer from cancer, alopecia or any other illness that causes hair loss.  I opted for the Wigs For Kids organization because 100% of the hair is used to make wigs for children in need, at no cost to the child's family and also because their minimum is 8 inches of hair versus the 10 to 14 inches required with similar charities.  Once I told Emmy about my plan, she wanted in.  So, we continued to grow our hair until I finally hit my wall in early July.  I found a babysitter for the littles and made a hair appointment for the next day.  I told Nick about the appointment and he made me promise that I would have the stylist show me how short Emmy's hair would be before making the cut and if it was too short then she'd have to wait.  Emmy's hair is precious to Nick, who has created a special washing regime to maximize it's health. :-P  We arrived at our appointment, and I dutifully checked with Emmy's stylist whose prediction was waaaaay shorter than I had anticipated.  Emmy agreed that we should wait until it grew longer and she settled for a trim instead.  As soon as she was finished, she came over to my chair and grabbed my hand while the stylist cut through my pony tail.  I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little panicky about how short my hair was going to be, but kept focusing on the fact that I am so blessed to have hair that grows and a tenderhearted 4 year old who thinks to hold her mommy's hand during such moments.  And a husband who still thinks I'm cute with a bob haha!

Pre-haircut selfie

Post-haircut selfie

Then we went to get our toes painted!

Just before dropping it in the mail!

4 1/2 years old!

The picture above is pretty indicative of our Emmy's personality.  There is an old soul tucked away in her four and a half year old body.  She has embraced her role as biggest sister and is a very responsible and capable little person.  She is independent and innovative.  When she wants something, she makes it happen, which is either wonderfully helpful or positively (negatively?) maddening.  She has an incredibly loving heart and desires to make other people happy, particularly with gifts. (When she went to the zoo with Miss Emily, she bought me a cockatoo magnet with her souvenir money, it was an idea all of her own. :)  I think I might have her love language pinned.  

She has the memory of an elephant and will hold you accountable for whatever you say- I have become far more elusive with my plans now that I have to answer to her. :-P  She is incredibly thoughtful (my back was aching for a few days and she told me, "let me pick that up, Mommy, so your back doesn't hurt.")  She is a problem solver, and her solutions are usually pretty spot-on.  This is also a double edged sword because she does a pretty good job eliminating my rationale for not going with her plan for things.  She is innovative, always trying to come up with a new, better way of doing things (much like her Daddy.) I get a good laugh sometimes over how thoroughly complicated she makes a simple task, though, just to claim credit for her brainstorm.  Especially when she's "teaching" Hannah how to do something.  Sweet Sis usually goes along, I just turn the other way and laugh watching it all unfold. She likes to be in charge and has trouble taking orders from others.  Teaching her to ride a bike, whistle, or tie her shoes are monumental tasks because she thinks she has a better way of doing it, even though she has no idea what she's doing.  I've found that she eventually will give me a chance to demo it for her when her approach isn't working-but I need to act quickly before she jumps in and takes over again.   She thrives when she is given a job, she even tells me how she "works" during quiet time.  I find her "re-organizing" her things, writing letters in a notebook, stacks of books that she's read through.  She is so doting on her babies, throwing them regular birthday parties, coming up with agendas that make them feel special.  She's gotten really good at puzzles and creating lego castles.  Everything is princess, but I am grateful that, she views princesses as girls who wear pretty dresses and like to sing and dance and go on adventures.

Emmy loves her imaginative play.  She spins the most exciting stories, and is so resourceful pulling together props to enhance the experience.  She is so wonderful with the babies and love to make them laugh.  So much so, that sometimes when she gets them going, she gets a little too crazy and needs to be reminded to cool her jets.  

For sleep...Without a nap, which is usually the case, she'll sleep from about 730 or 8 until 630 in the morning or so.  I consider her to be my "quiet time burglar."  It seems that every time I finally sit down to pump after getting everyone down and finishing up some chores, there she is.  She tells me that she just really wants to spend time with me, so it's hard to get mad at her.  She's supposed to take an hour of quiet time, but a lot of times it's closer to 45 minutes.  I would rather pay for it on the back end with a late night and get a break in the middle of the day, so I am jumping for joy the days she actually naps. :-P

She tells me that her favorite breakfast foods are cheerios, oatmeal with brown sugar, pancakes, waffles, bacon and eggs.  Lunch favorites are bean and cheese quesadillas, crackers, cheese and pepperonis, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, Campbell's chicken noodle soup.  Snack foods: applesauce, graham crackers and nutella, a mix of cheerios, craisins, chocolate chips and marshmallows. Dinner foods are chili, buttered pasta, white bean sausage and kale soup, Italian wedding soup, fish sticks, taco salad.

Love my girl.

4th of July

Our neighbors treated the girls to picking berries and riding on the mower...The girls were tickled!  I love hearing Sis talk about Mr. Richard, it sounds like "Meeser Reechard."  I sometimes this she has a french accent.

Fireworks are legal around here and people take full advantage.  I usually get annoyed because they last for the better part of the month and Molly looses her mind each time one is set off, but I so loved sitting on the front porch with my Emmy watching six different firework shows.  She loved it too, she drew a picture the next morning of the two of us sitting on the steps together watching the fireworks.  :) We invited Sis to join us but she says they're "too youd" and wanted nothing to do with them. :-P

Playing with photo booth on my computer...